A few days ago, I found a small abnormal egg in a nesting box. It was a bit less than an inch in diameter and soft-shelled. (The "shell" was a thin membrane.)
Inside, there was some albumin (but no yolk), surounding a grayish object about the size and shape of an almond or slightly bigger. Cut in half (See photo.) it appeared to consist of a tough, leathery, somewhat wrinkled, "skin" (upper right) and a clear inside that looked like albumin but was blood-red (lower left).
All except one of my hens have been laying normally before and after I found this. The other hen is a Specked Sussex about one year old that had been laying at a steady rate of 4 or 5 eggs per week since age 7 months, but has not laid any eggs for the several days since that abnormal egg appeared. She has always been active and healthy-appearing, and still shows signs of still being in an egg-laying state (squatting, appearance of vent). However a few weeks ago, that hen's eggs changed in appearance from brown and smooth to very pale and rough on the surface, with a noticablly darker and rougher area towards the larger end. In the 2nd photo (of one of these eggs), you can a clear boundary between the rest of the egg and the dark area on the large end covering about 1/4 of the total surface.
I am worried that this may be a sign of something unhealthy going on in the hen's oviduct, but it is unlike anything I have heard about before.
Inside, there was some albumin (but no yolk), surounding a grayish object about the size and shape of an almond or slightly bigger. Cut in half (See photo.) it appeared to consist of a tough, leathery, somewhat wrinkled, "skin" (upper right) and a clear inside that looked like albumin but was blood-red (lower left).
All except one of my hens have been laying normally before and after I found this. The other hen is a Specked Sussex about one year old that had been laying at a steady rate of 4 or 5 eggs per week since age 7 months, but has not laid any eggs for the several days since that abnormal egg appeared. She has always been active and healthy-appearing, and still shows signs of still being in an egg-laying state (squatting, appearance of vent). However a few weeks ago, that hen's eggs changed in appearance from brown and smooth to very pale and rough on the surface, with a noticablly darker and rougher area towards the larger end. In the 2nd photo (of one of these eggs), you can a clear boundary between the rest of the egg and the dark area on the large end covering about 1/4 of the total surface.
I am worried that this may be a sign of something unhealthy going on in the hen's oviduct, but it is unlike anything I have heard about before.
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