Thin shell broken egg hanging out of hen

[kuntrychick]

All my grown hens are molting and/or on strike...LOL, or the days getting shorter, or a combination of all. I have 3 pullets that haven't started laying yet.

Anyway, this one RIR hen had been laying real fragile easily broken eggs before she started molting (even with free choice oyster shell they never touch).

It's probably been 2-3 weeks since she's layed an egg at all (unless it happened to be eaten or something that I didn't notice).

Well, earlier I saw her in the nest box & gave her time to do her business. A while later, I saw broken egg but no shell in the nest box, which I had to clean out. Then, I saw her & she has at least half a broken egg shell hanging out of her. I also see some of the inside of the egg that she was sitting in that broke hanging below that 1/2 shell on her down feathers. I'm not sure if this egg broke while inside her, or if the egg/shell didn't form right & came out like that, or if it broke while coming out, or if it was so soft shell that with her sitting on it it broke. ????

Why is this? What makes this happen? As far as her age, she started laying eggs August 2009.

I know I need to clean this off of her, but I can't catch her! The other day my husband caught each of my 2 RIRs for me so I could wash their bottom (they had dried up poo....messy butts & been needing cleaning a long time). Now this! Evidently, she just loves to have a messy bottom! :rolleyes. Now, I'm wondering if this is the cause of the messy bottom to begin with....poo sticking in the egg....yuck!

Will this fall off? Will she clean it up herself? Will it cause the other chickens to peck at her bottom?

 

[scratch'n'peck]

I'm not sure if this egg broke while inside her, or if the egg/shell didn't form right & came out like that, or if it broke while coming out, or if it was so soft shell that with her sitting on it it broke. ????

I think it could be any of these things. If egg shell and membrane is sticking inside her vent it could present a risk for infection maybe. She might have a tough time cleaning that up. Most of my chickens, I can catch with the help of treats. For the flighty chickens, I wait until they are roosting and it is fairly dark, and then I pluck them off the perch. I'm sure you were looking forward to cleaning up a chicken butt this evening. You may want to soften up the mess by soaking her in some shallow warm water or placing her butt on a wet warm rag.​

 

[kuntrychick]

scratch'n'peck :

I'm not sure if this egg broke while inside her, or if the egg/shell didn't form right & came out like that, or if it broke while coming out, or if it was so soft shell that with her sitting on it it broke. ????

I think it could be any of these things. If egg shell and membrane is sticking inside her vent it could present a risk for infection maybe. She might have a tough time cleaning that up. Most of my chickens, I can catch with the help of treats. For the flighty chickens, I wait until they are roosting and it is fairly dark, and then I pluck them off the perch. I'm sure you were looking forward to cleaning up a chicken butt this evening. You may want to soften up the mess by soaking her in some shallow warm water or placing her butt on a wet warm rag.​

Thanks! Yeah, she's pretty flighty & I'm not good at catching chickens either! She will eat out of my hand if I have a treat, but if I reach to get her, she's FAST! I will probably have to wait until she's on the roost to get her & clean her up. And yes, I am SO looking forward to cleaning a chicken butt tonight! LOL

 

[33yardbirds]

One of our hens had this happen and I was able to just pull it out with no problems after. Bird is laying and doing just fine.

 

[kuntrychick]

Ok, I probably traumatized her chasing her around, but I finally caught her this afternoon. I took her in the house & put her butt in a sink of warm water and proceeded to wash her. There were some shavings stuck to some egg on her I got off just fine and a few pieces of broken shell. Then, the long piece of shell was hanging down & a pretty long piece came off just fine, but it broke from the other hanging piece of shell that was like it was stuck in her vent! I was trying to pull this piece, but I didn't know what I was doing & was afraid I would pull something out that shouldn't come out!

Maybe I'm worrying too much & should've just pulled it on out. It may have just been stuck to dried egg just right inside, but I was just so afraid I was gonna pull some of her insides out! So, I left that piece there & thought I would ask here.

WHAT DO I DO?! I've never dealt with anything like this before!

Will She be ok? What causes something like this? Is it something similar to egg bound, but with a fragile broken egg?

Will she get it out on her own? Will she pass it when she poops or something? Will she even be able to poop with this in the way? Will she produce another egg & push it out when she lays another egg?

ETA: Oh, and it wasn't really soft shell like membrane but a real fragile easily broken shell....like the broken pieces still have the sharp jagged edges. Can the pieces of broken shell cut her & make her bleed?

 

[kuntrychick]

Should this be posted in emergencies now?

 

[kuntrychick]

Quote:
So, you just pulled it out of her vent? I was afraid when I felt resistance that I would pull her insides out or something. It may just be the pieces of shell & part of membrane stuck to her from the broken egg, but I'm just so afraid of hurting her!

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Pulling a little shouldn't pull out her insides, but i guess it could be kind of uncomfortable for her. I have read where people used tweezers to get the bits of egg shell out. But a soak in the water should help soften things up. I doubt that it will block the poop, but you may want to keep an eye on her. Too bad the oyster shell isn't enough to prevent soft shells... hmm I wonder if others will have suggestions on that.

 

[thefarmfather]

Give it a couple days to dry and then gently pull it off, same thing happened to me

 

[Blessedwithhens]

Hi, I am just reading your post and wondering what happened to your hen? Was she ok? This just happened to my hen on 10/3/21. And then on 10/12/21 this came out of her (See image). I took her to the vet, the Vet said it was left over soft eggshell from the 10/3 Soft shell incident and that the tuna looking/feeling stuff inside is just egg membrane. She recommended that we finish the already prescribed Tylan Tartrate powder 250mg/ day Incase of oviduct infection that may have caused the soft shell in the first place. This thing that came out on 10/12 didnt stink, no pus. But 2 posters of a FB chicken group are insistent this it is lash egg which can be fatal.. so I’m wondering how your soft shell situation turned out, looking for advice.