Does anyone know what is coming out of this hen?

[sharonandtracy]

Sorry if these pictures are a bit gross....I'm petsitting two hens and today, one hen briefly stopped eating....the next time I looked at her, there was what looked like a yolk (no egg) on the ground nearby and a thin looking, rather large white thing coming from her backside. It eventually was passed and I'm thinking it could be part of a soft, misshapen egg? I originally thought something had prolapsed but then the white bit fully came out. Does anyone have any experience/advice for this type of situation? She acted fine after she passed it and started eating again but I haven't seen any hard shell anywhere and am worried. I have let the owner of the hen know, of course and she'd never encountered this before but thought it could be a parasite.

 

[dawg53]

Welcome to BYC.
It's a soft egg shell hanging out of the hens vent. You need to remove it by slowly and gently pulling it out of the vent. Sometimes these things happen. She should be fine afterwards unless she has ongoing reproductive problems.
Ensure she has crushed oyster shell to eat as free choice for her and the other chickens.

 

[sharonandtracy]

Thank you so much! I'm relieved to hear it's not something more serious. Luckily the egg came out on its own earlier, phew! I've told the owner about your message and the oyster shell as well!