Found this in the laying box today...HELP

[Kelsie Aman]

It is about 1/4 wide and kinda flat looking...there was also an empty soft cell with it...and a very annoyed chicken in the box...Not sure if she laid it or was just trying to lay...she moved herself to the next box over while I cleaned out the one I found this yucky thing in.


My stomach is about churning at the idea that it could be a tape worm??..It almost looks and feels like a piece of calamari.

Can anyone tell me if it is tape worm or just a nasty egg mutation (which I pray it is).

Thnx Kelsie

 

[GhostRider65]

EWWWWWWWW I think I would screamed had I found that...yuck hope someone knows what it is..........I'll be checking to find out as well.... Kim

 

[snowflake]

I'm not an expert but I think it looks like an egg gone wrong .Young layers and old layers can some times lay eggs that formed incorrectly.
Maybe some one more experienced will chime in

 

[Tikkijane]

My first thought is ovary.......... https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-in-nestbox-has-my-chicken-thrown-her-ovaries, but I'm not an expert in ovary throwing.............

 

[Erinmir]

I'm no expert, but I'd say it is an egg mistake - the one end of the long thing looks like it is yolky, and since it was in a box with a collapsed soft shell egg, it is likely just a malformed egg and nothing to worry about unless, of course, you continue to find malformed eggs, then you might need to take some preventative measures.

 

[FarmingForFun]

If you are getting soft shells you may want to give your birds some free choice oyster shell to up there calcium a bit.

 

[Kelsie Aman]

Additional info I guess I should have mentioned now I have read your responses

The long flat piece not just looks like calamari but feels rubbery too....I have not had soft eggs in the past, but we did change laying crumble brand last week...for no reason other than, we ran out and happened to be shopping at Walmart so picked up a bag there...being a Walmart brand I can not contest to how good it is compared to that we usually get from Tractor Supply that does not require any additional calcium...I do now and again crumble up my egg shells and add it to the chicken bucket.

My chickens are free range (everything from a wooded area, to my gardens and out in to 55acres of hay fields), they get a scoop of cracked corn each night to bring them in to the coop for the night and they have the laying crumble in a hanging feeder free choice.

I am pretty sure it came out of the soft shell when the chicken who was in the nest stood on it...she has since laid me an egg in another box, bringing my egg total for the day to my usual 7...I do have a couple of hens that have not laid for me yet, so maybe it is a first timer or one of the "old girls" trying again??

I was curious if it is possible for a tapeworm to be inside of an egg? Though it does not show compartmentation of a tapeworm like the images I saw on google.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

It appears to be a deformed egg, and not any type of worm