First Egg mishap

[orchardflock]

I went out to feed the chickens this morning, and immediately noticed my Aquila (black astralorp with some RIR) had a mess of white dried under her vent. We weren't home for the last two days, so a family member fed the birds. I opened the chicken coop, and what looked like either one or two yolks were splattered under the roosting area. I didn't see any shell.

My best guess is she tried to lay her first egg or two and something went haywire. She's just under 5 months old. My question is whether I should be concerned that she didn't get it all out or she's sick with some kind of weird diarrhea, or just assume it will resolve itself with time. I do have 4 other pullets the same age, so I don't know for sure that it was her - she's just the one that looks by far and away the most ready to start laying.

 

[KadeSilkies21]

My chickens have laid eggs without shells before and i don't believe it is a serious problem. I'm not sure about the white stuff under her vent however back to the shell-less egg, it could have been caused bye a disturbance while she was laying the egg. I suspect our dog freaked out my chicken while she was laying which caused the shell not to form around the insides. Some pullets that only started laying also may lay shell-less eggs. Do you feed her layers pellets? Lack of calcium and vitamin D may cause this. I would not worry too much but if she keeps laying these shell-less eggs i would take her to the vet.

 

[FrankHomestead]

My chickens have laid eggs without shells before and i don't believe it is a serious problem. I'm not sure about the white stuff under her vent however back to the shell-less egg, it could have been caused bye a disturbance while she was laying the egg. I suspect our dog freaked out my chicken while she was laying which caused the shell not to form around the insides. Some pullets that only started laying also may lay shell-less eggs. Do you feed her layers pellets? Lack of calcium and vitamin D may cause this. I would not worry too much but if she keeps laying these shell-less eggs i would take her to the vet.

I thought shell formation was the majority of the process...and takes several hours

 

[aart]

I thought shell formation was the majority of the process...and takes several hours

That is correct.
Great video on egg formation: Egg Formation Video

@orchardflock The white on butt feathers could just be the urates portion of the feces. She should preen it off, but might be a good idea to take a closer look, part feathers enough to make sure the vent is clear and that there is no larger accumulation of poop stuck to her feathers. Gobs of poop stuck to feathers can invite fly strike,
which you don't want to experience, much grosser than poopy butt checks.

The shelless and membrane-less egg yolk on floor is fairly common in new layers.
Stress of a stranger taking care of birds could possibly cause some funky eggs,
or it could just be new layer funky going on.

I wouldn't worry too much, just keep a close eye on things.

There is an almost foolproof way to tell who is laying and who is not,
takes some practice but well worth learning:
Vent Appearance:
Dry, tight, and smaller - usually not laying.
Moist, wide, and larger - usually laying.

Pelvic Points, feel for the 2 bony points(pelvic bones F-F) on either side of vent:
Less than 2 fingertip widths apart usually means not laying.
More than 2 fingertip widths apart usually means laying.
(Spacing is relative with chickens size and humans finger size.)