Chicken laying weird egg

[Chickentender5]

Hi there,

I went out to head count my hens before closing their coop up for the night and noticed an egg yolk laying on the floor underneath one of the hens perched on a roosting bar. When I looked up she had what looked like a thin translucent shell not formed hanging from her behind. I very gently pulled it off for her since she seemed to have a hard time pushing it out. I’ve never had a hen lay an egg while roosting that wasn’t really a formed egg. This happened last week but all I saw was the yolk on the floor (no broken egg shell), but something’s been getting my chicken eggs during the day (don’t know what that is either) and figured that whatever was stealing the eggs dropped one. After tonight, I’m sure it was probably from my hen. A little background, she is a 4 year old Buff Orpington otherwise healthy and no other issues. I’m letting my flock free range most of the day and still feeding crumbles and hen scratch in the mornings. Temp at night has gotten colder over last few weeks, usually 40s at night. Anybody ever had this happen or know what could be causing. Thank you!

 

[Tookie]

She's just having some glitches and laying shell-less eggs. This is fairly common and I've had it happen in my hens before.
To help her out, give her one Calcium Citrate +D3 tablet a day, for a week or so. That will harden her shells and aid in passing any eggs.

 

[Chickentender5]

Thank you Tookie for the info. Is it weird that she is laying at night and on a roost?

 

[Tookie]

Thank you Tookie for the info. Is it weird that she is laying at night and on a roost?

Not necessarily, that does happen and I've seen people say they've had a hen do that. So no, its not weird and it does happen!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Has she molted yet this season? Not unusual for birds at the start or end of a laying cycle to have some hiccups, just as with new layers.

 

[gtaus]

To help her out, give her one Calcium Citrate +D3 tablet a day, for a week or so. That will harden her shells and aid in passing any eggs.

I always have extra grit and calcium in some small feeders in the coop. They take what they need. It usually lasts a very long time because they don't seem to need much extra calcium or grit. But it's there in case they want some.

Picture of my grit and calcium feeders made from PVC pipes...

I also save all our eggshells, let them dry out, put them in an empty bread bag, and crush them into small pieces. I toss that into the chicken run mixed with chicken scratch maybe once a month. I think they eat some of the shells, but whatever does not get eaten ends up in the compost litter. In any case, I can't see any eggshells after a short time, so either it was eaten or scratched into the compost litter.

I don't have many problems with mal-formed eggs, but when the hens get older, they lay less, and the shells might not be as hard. It's almost always a short term situation. Good luck.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I will occasionally get these shell-less or what I call jelly eggs in my poop trays, so apparently it's not unusual for these to be "laid" or deposited at night, on the roosts. @Tookie 's advice to give the hen calcium citrate +D3 is sound, you can get it at any retailer that sells vitamins and supplements. Just pop one in her beak and she'll swallow it, you can do this daily for 5 to 7 days.

 

[Chickentender5]

Has she molted yet this season? Not unusual for birds at the start or end of a laying cycle to have some hiccups, just as with new layers.

I think she has molted. Hard to tell. I have quite a few hens with bald patches from feather picking.