Hole in egg every time- why?

[Spizhauben]

I have a 2 year old Maran that has consistently laid these elongated eggs with a hole pushed in on almost the exact same spot everyday. She gets layer feed and has access to oyster shells. Any thoughts as to what’s causing this? Her eggs were normal last year!

 

[ZephyrCoveFarms]

I have a hen that lays double yolked eggs every time and this happens.

 

[Sueby]

Yep, that's it! I've seen a chicken swallow a whole frog, you'd be surprised what fits in that beak!

 

[DogsAndChicks123]

I don’t know about the elongated egg (you could just be Really lucky and have a hen that lays double yolks all the time) But for the hole I am guessing that she is laying the egg then instantly pecking a holes in it only a guess could be wrong.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

The eggshell is too thin. The membrane pulls chunks with it when it shrinks because the shell is so thin.

 

[HillCountryChicken]

It definitely looks like she has been pecking holes into them, or if the shell is thin she may be stepping in it on nesting box or whatever you have for her to lay her eggs. We had a chicken that would consistently have holes in her eggs and it turned out she was stepping on them and it looked just like that. In my experience when they peck at the eggs all the chickens rush over and end up eating it once they see the yolk

 

[ladybrasa]

It sounds and looks a little more involved than simply being stepped on or pecked. I’m thinking more what Jacinlarkwell said. Make sure you have some oyster shell available for your girls - maybe they have enough in the feed but won’t hurt to have some available- it’s not gonna go bad! However, I am wondering if something is glitching or damaged or something with her egg plumbing to be so consistently laying these eggs? Sorry, not sure what that might be though.

As far as eating them, is the hole a through and through? I’ll still eat an egg (collected that day and put in fridge right away) if the shell is cracked but inner membrane still intact. If it’s leaky or too dirty then I might ‘accidentally’ drop it in the coop ...

 

[Acre4Me]

I’ve read that using the human “calcium citrate” supplement found in most drug stores can help.

We used it for one hen. 1crushed tablet (of the lowest dose on the shelf) into some wet feed. Feeding it for a few days. We did not keep it up long term, but it did help.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Glitchy shell gland.
Doubt it can be 'fixed', but might want to give her a special breakfast with calcium supplements like @rosemarythyme does.

The aforementioned "breakfast" -
If you know exactly which bird is the problem bird, isolate her for a private breakfast. 2-3x a week serve a small bowl (like 1 Tbsp is fine) of wet or fermented feed with oyster shell mixed in. If she does not like chunks of oyster shell, crush it up or use the powdery remnants from bottom of the bag. Should only take her minutes to eat and after that she's free to go.

Assuming her issue is simply insufficient calcium intake, you should see results in a week or two, and you can try reducing it to 1-2x a week and should hopefully continue getting good results. If you still have the same issue, then you might need to try pills of calcium citrate instead for a faster, bigger calcium boost.

That said, in this case, I'm thinking the shell gland might be the issue so adding calcium won't fix it. One of my older girls, 5 yrs old, has been having issues with her eggs cracking at the tip upon laying, along with some weird shell swirls/wrinkles in that spot - the rest of the eggshell is solid so it's not a calcium issue. I've since added more padding to the nest box (a layer of bedding, then a folded feed bag to keep it in place/add extra padding, and then the top layer of bedding) and haven't had tip breakage from her eggs since then.

 

[Tonyroo]

They look like dinosaur egg. Sorry don't know. I'm sure someone can answer it.