Hi, I was mixing around the hay/straw in the chicken coop so it would refresh it a bit removing some of the ammonia smell before replacing the bedding on Friday in two days. When i was mixing it, i found something which looks like a white leaf but doesn't have the leaf veins and not the same thickness and texture. I ripped it a bit trying to figure out what it was and I am still not sure. Im thinking that it could be a chick laying an egg for the first time or something, not sure. You don't think its an ill chicken laying a bad egg do you ? looks like a latex/rubber balloon too but it isn't.
That was a shell-less egg. It's a glitch in a hen's system, usually a new layer, where her body kicks the egg out before the shell is put on, just that membrane. Seems like they're often laid from the roost or otherwise catch the hen by surprise so they're not in the nest box. If laid from the roost, they can break on the coop floor and the flock happily eats the egg inside, leaving that membrane. Doesn't mean they're going to be egg eaters, it's more like a crime of opportunity . An occasional glitch like this is not a cause for concern, it just happens with hens from time to time.
