First three eggs laid. 2 rotten, third had a developed chick inside

[Ezzalou]

Hello, I’ve raised my first lot of chicks this year in May. We ended up with 3 roosters and 2 girls. The roosters went to live elsewhere while I’ve kept the girls. The last rooster to be taken had his merry way with the ladies before he left. I never saw him with the two new girls but one assumes he was.

He left the beginning of September.

The new girls have just started to lay the last 10 days. One has no issues. The other laid first. The egg was small, dirty and felt empty. when cracked it was dirty brown and all mixed up. The second egg 7 days later (yesterday afternoon) was misshaped, dirty, smelt a little odd and light. When cracked it exploded with a bang, was full of green/blue cream with a black blob in it and stunk like nothing I’ve smelt before. This morning she laid again, small, clean and regular shaped. I cracked it open outside, and it had formed baby chick in it.
It should be noted she is acting fine. Eating, drinking, scratching, roosting with the other girls. She is the bottom of the pecking order for the moment, but she seems happy enough with that.

My questions can anyone explain how or why this happened? Was it the rooster or was it some kind of weird twin in ovary situation? Will she now start to feel better and lay normally eventually or will her reproductive system be messed up for life now?

Thank you for any answers you have!

 

[Birdielee]

Wow. I sure want to know, too!

 

[aart]

This morning she laid again, small, clean and regular shaped. I cracked it open outside, and it had formed baby chick in it.

You found this egg in the coop nest?
Got pics?
There are no other chickens or birds around?

Welcome to BYC! @Ezzalou
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!

 

[MrFluffyandGirls]

I've never had a chicken lay a rotten egg before but it is possible an infection of the oviduct can cause it to happen on a rare occasion. Infection,sickness and stress can make a chicken lay all kinds of funky things.
As far as the egg laid with a developing chick...do you carefully look for eggs everyday because I never heard of a fresh laid egg cracked open the same day be in the process long enough to even resemble a forming chick.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Wondering if what was inside was a big chunk of lash material not an embryo....

 

[Ezzalou]

Hey guys,
All three eggs I found were in the coop run, on the ground, near the bottom of the ramp to get inside the coop.

I have a number of other hens. Three big girls, 3 silkies, two new point of lay which we raised from eggs in May (of which these eggs came from one) and 8six week old baby chicks.
no roosters anymore, since early September.

I collect eggs every day. Sometimes multiple times a day. I also know which girl lays which egg.
My initial thought what that it was an old egg, or an egg from the fertilised batch from 2 months ago, but all of those eggs were accounted for after the hatch, so to get three On different days in the same spot doesn’t add up. The new girls are the only ones to lay a coloured egg so it can’t be from any of my established girls.
I can’t think of where the eggs came from or how they got there if it wasn’t laid by Misty.

I will attach some photos. I’ve only got one from the rotten egg and one from the embryo.

Edit: you’ve got me thinking and poking around the coop again. We do have a lot of wildlife around here which can access the run especially during the day as it’s always open. I’m not sure how, but maybe it is something external and Misty hasn’t started to lay at all? She is the only hen I’ve never seen laying specifically to identify her eggs, so she was my automatic assumption.

 

[Ezzalou]

The egg is blue tinged. My other coloured layer lays green. So it’s either definitely Misty or I have some very weird things going on in the coop.

 

[FarmerGirl101]

That doesn't seem to look like a chick to me as it doesn't seem like how the would develop normally

 

[Ezzalou]

That doesn't seem to look like a chick to me as it doesn't seem like how the would develop normally

so perhaps a different bird do you think? I hope it’s a simple as that. Maybe I need to start shutting the run up more.

The whole thing is just odd, and had me very worried about Misty having something horribly wrong with her.

 

[aart]

so perhaps a different bird do you think?

I would say yes.