Egg size etc

[carolwfuller]

Hello! I have a small flock of five RIR. One of my hens was attacked and most of her tail pulled out. She has a little bit that hangs over her vent. She seems fine although I haven't seen her lay. I know she must be stressed.

Coincidentally or not I found this small egg in the poop pan.It had one hole poked in it. We cracked it and you can see what is inside. It seems like a fertile egg and developing bird.

Any ideas on either of my concerns? Thank you so much for any replies

 

[Rhodebar Lover]

When a hen starts up laying again, their eggs are often small or not correctly formed. You're also not supposed to incubate them because they are sometimes inside the hen for a little while and some minor development can start. The egg was probably in the droppings tray because it is so small that she didn't know that it was an egg because of the small size. I would keep a close eye on her though

 

[carolwfuller]

Thanks
I do not have a rooster so it was not fertilized in my yard

 

[RJSorensen]

We suffered a dog attack a couple of weeks ago and I have several hens that have no tail feathers as you describe. The drama and trauma from this is very damaging to the birds, and to some extent their owner. Take good care of that girl and nurse her back to health and full strength. It can be done and once healed up, life for the both of you can get back to normal. I does take time, and if you are like me, seeing the offended bird just makes you mad… every day. Egg size will change and quality of the shell will be altered from what was your norm.

Regarding the fertile egg, if you have no roo, and you are sure you have a chick in there, you best find out just how that happened. As a basic law, eggs don't brood their selves, and if your thoughts are true, there must needs be a security breach in your setup for such to have happened. I would recommend getting to the bottom of that one.

Best to you and your birds,

RJ

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sometimes the trauma of being bashed around causes stuff to come off the oviduct so they end up with bloody bits and stuff in the egg, this is probably what you saw in the egg.