March 14 on of my EE's laid a four inch egg that had a beautiful fully formed egg within it. Yesterday she tried to do it again but the outside egg was too soft and instead of laying them both she laid the inner egg and the outer egg shell collapsed and got stuck. My husband found the inner egg with yolk all over the outside (the first egg within an egg didn't have a yolk in the outside egg) and when I saw it I knew what had happened. The hen, Molly, was in the nesting box trying to pass the large outer shell.
I went out and got her, brought her into a warm bath. Through some beautiful luck the outer shell wasn't fully formed and there weren't a bunch of shards of shell inside her. By helping her to relax I was able to put my fingers inside and help the big "glump" of shell pass. I wrapped her in a towel, held her while she napped and then fed her a bit of cottage cheese, a crushed tums and a soft egg yolk. I put her in the hospital crate, she drank some water and let her sleep. I woke her up after a couple of hours and after a bit of a snuggle she ate some layer mash and more water and went to bed for the night. She pooped a couple of times and it was increasingly more normal. This morning I was able to put her out with her four sisters and it's all going well.
Okay. My problem is, she has done TWO egg within a egg layings in a row. She is NOT a good candidate for that.
Her history: I have four hens, they are all good layers for their breeds and we have been very blessed. The only one that has been a problem has been Molly. Last year I posted asking how to get her shells better and the consensus was that she had a bad calcium gene and some chickens will just always have soft egg shells. She shouldn't be bred but we have no roosters so I said no worries. She quit laying in October and started again this month. We were excited because her eggs weren't as soft as they were last year. Then when she laid the egg in the egg the outer egg was broken but I was just glad she was still okay. Now the very next egg is again an egg within an egg.
I can't have her doing this. She is not a good candidate for anything strange. Why is she laying egg in eggs now? How can I help her get the first egg out without coating it again?
I will post pics soon.
Long story short: hen with history of soft shells has started laying egg within a eggs and is not passing them without problems.
the normal sized eggs we collected the same day we collected Molly's egg within an egg
This is what was inside the large shell, egg white and a normal sized egg
The outer egg shell and the gorgeous dark pea green normal sized egg. We cracked the inner egg and it was a complete normal egg. Pic's available on request.
but srsly, I have them.
The beautiful girl herself.
The outer eggshell of the second egg within an egg I was able to help Molly "deliver" in a warm bath and the normal sized egg covered in yolk that alerted me to the problem.
eta: photos
I went out and got her, brought her into a warm bath. Through some beautiful luck the outer shell wasn't fully formed and there weren't a bunch of shards of shell inside her. By helping her to relax I was able to put my fingers inside and help the big "glump" of shell pass. I wrapped her in a towel, held her while she napped and then fed her a bit of cottage cheese, a crushed tums and a soft egg yolk. I put her in the hospital crate, she drank some water and let her sleep. I woke her up after a couple of hours and after a bit of a snuggle she ate some layer mash and more water and went to bed for the night. She pooped a couple of times and it was increasingly more normal. This morning I was able to put her out with her four sisters and it's all going well.
Okay. My problem is, she has done TWO egg within a egg layings in a row. She is NOT a good candidate for that.
Her history: I have four hens, they are all good layers for their breeds and we have been very blessed. The only one that has been a problem has been Molly. Last year I posted asking how to get her shells better and the consensus was that she had a bad calcium gene and some chickens will just always have soft egg shells. She shouldn't be bred but we have no roosters so I said no worries. She quit laying in October and started again this month. We were excited because her eggs weren't as soft as they were last year. Then when she laid the egg in the egg the outer egg was broken but I was just glad she was still okay. Now the very next egg is again an egg within an egg.
I can't have her doing this. She is not a good candidate for anything strange. Why is she laying egg in eggs now? How can I help her get the first egg out without coating it again?
I will post pics soon.
Long story short: hen with history of soft shells has started laying egg within a eggs and is not passing them without problems.
the normal sized eggs we collected the same day we collected Molly's egg within an egg
This is what was inside the large shell, egg white and a normal sized egg
The outer egg shell and the gorgeous dark pea green normal sized egg. We cracked the inner egg and it was a complete normal egg. Pic's available on request.
The beautiful girl herself.
The outer eggshell of the second egg within an egg I was able to help Molly "deliver" in a warm bath and the normal sized egg covered in yolk that alerted me to the problem.
eta: photos
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