Is this a shelless egg?

[FranzBear]

Found this yesterday with what appeared to be a broken yolk, a clear gel patch (potentially albumen) and a wet brown poop smear as well, but quite distinct from each other. I did recently buy 4 point of lay Rhode Island reds recently...and then today I found remnants of an eggshell with the insides eaten (didn't take a photo unfortunately). Looks like I might have to watch them more carefully to get to the bottom of this, may have an egg eater as well

 

[missionman]

If our red or black star chicks see a broken egg they'll go after it. Chickens love the sight of a broken egg. Notice how chicks ignore eggs they lay in the coup but when you move them they want to attack them and peck at em! As for the missing shells, we've seen our chicks lay eggs without shells before and we improved their diets and bought crushed oyster shells and haven't seen it since. We were having soft shells and no shells prior. It was the grit. They need a finely tuned diet because they pump out so many eggs its taking numerous nutrients from them to keep up. But it's worth looking into because I think it can be something serious too like a virus or disease that's causing it and that would be a sign but many things can cause it. Usually its diet. we feed our chickens oyster shells and protein from meal worms to prevent shell issues. Meal worms are best. I recommend staying away from flies and larvae from soldier flies. Although these are grown in farms, they are horrible for chickens. Meal worms cost more for a reason. Earth worms are not good for hens either but I'll save that for another post.
Another good tip is, we personally only give egg layer pellets in summer. Not in winter. It stresses them out far too long and hens need a break from hormonal feeds that cause higher egg output. Chicks naturally slow egg production in winter so encouraging high output in winter isn't the best idea for chickens health. Gotta give em a break this will help avoid shell issues in winter too.
This article here is very helpful and it's totally accurate: Shelless Eggs Info Link

 

[RubelliteRose]

It is hard to say. Shell-less eggs will still be contained by a shell membrane and I don't see one in the photo, but that could have been eaten if it broke open. New layers will often need to work the glitches out of their system for a couple of weeks by laying tiny, shell-less, or paper thin shelled eggs. My flock will completely ignore all intact eggs, shelled or shell-less unless they are broken(it doesn't take much with a thin or no shell egg). Once broken, the flock turns into a bunch of piranha and devour it in seconds.
I would definitely keep an eye on them in case you have an egg eater, but it is probably just new layer glitches.
Do you give them calcium in addition to what is in their food? It is always a good idea to have oyster shell available whether you feed a layer food or an all flock

 

[FranzBear]

It is hard to say. Shell-less eggs will still be contained by a shell membrane and I don't see one in the photo, but that could have been eaten if it broke open. New layers will often need to work the glitches out of their system for a couple of weeks by laying tiny, shell-less, or paper thin shelled eggs. My flock will completely ignore all intact eggs, shelled or shell-less unless they are broken(it doesn't take much with a thin or no shell egg). Once broken, the flock turns into a bunch of piranha and devour it in seconds.
I would definitely keep an eye on them in case you have an egg eater, but it is probably just new layer glitches.
Do you give them calcium in addition to what is in their food? It is always a good idea to have oyster shell available whether you feed a layer food or an all flock

You are so right! I think the shell must have broken from an egg from the nest of a broody hen cos later I discovered there was splatters of egg on all her other eggs! I was so depressed because the eggs were ruined, they were totally covered in egg gunk I am sure the embryos would have become infected, and I had candles them the day before at day 4 and knew a few of the eggs had embryos inside them. So gutted...I have placed more eggs under her and cleaned up her nesting area but I'm worried she wasted 4 days and has to brood for an extra amount of time, it's the first time I've seen her broody I don't know how she will handle it

 

[RubelliteRose]

You are so right! I think the shell must have broken from an egg from the nest of a broody hen cos later I discovered there was splatters of egg on all her other eggs! I was so depressed because the eggs were ruined, they were totally covered in egg gunk I am sure the embryos would have become infected, and I had candles them the day before at day 4 and knew a few of the eggs had embryos inside them. So gutted...I have placed more eggs under her and cleaned up her nesting area but I'm worried she wasted 4 days and has to brood for an extra amount of time, it's the first time I've seen her broody I don't know how she will handle it

Glad you figured it out! She should be fine with the 4 extra days. I've seen quite a few people here say that they have waited a week before giving eggs to a hen to make sure that she was committed to staying broody.