Laying soft shelled eggs with a yolk outside the shell

[WhisperingChick]

Have 6 chickens that just started laying recently. Two day ago noticed one hen looked like she wanted to lay an egg ......she did and it was soft shelled! Now last night the same thing another soft shelled egg and there was a yolk (not in a shell) outside of the egg and maybe like a bit of white around the yolk! So it was like she laid two eggs. One in a soft shell and one not even in a shell at the same time. Is it possible that they can have a defective layer! Have not went and got the oyster shell to try to get the shells hard,

 

[BantamLover21]

It appears that your pullet is having some problems with her reproductive tract. More than one yolk was probably released from the ovary at a time, causing both to travel down the oviduct and have some albumen (white) added to them. If a shell had been added, this might have resulted in a double-yolked egg, two eggs stuck together, or two eggs laid soon after another. For some reason, though, your pullet's Uterus/shell gland (where the shell is added) isn't functioning properly, and didn't add much shell to either of the eggs.

This problem will likely resolve itself in time. It is not uncommon for pullets to have a few "odd" eggs due to their reproductive system maturing. I would, though, be sure to purchase some oyster shell, or at least crush some egg shells and give it to your birds. This will ensure that they have enough calcium in their diet. Also, are you feeding them layer feed at this point? When pullets begin laying, their nutritional needs change, with them requiring less protein, and more calcium/phosphorus. Only layer feed can provide this.

Good luck, I hope your pullet starts laying some beautiful eggs soon!

 

[WhisperingChick]

Thanks Bantam Lover! Yes I have been feeding then layer food. Can they lay two eggs at one sitting? I have had 2 eggs every day and then 3 eggs every other day and then this happened with her and I was only getting 2 eggs a day for a few days. Now today I have 4 eggs so I either have another one laying (4 total) or she has straightened out and is now laying good again or not. It is hard to tell which ones are laying when you don't see them actually lay. This is the first time I have actually seen a chicken lay an egg. These eggs she layed too she layed them outside the nesting box where all my eggs so far have been in the nester. I wonder if she knows that the egg she is about to lay is not a good egg? Tell you what the shells that the others are producing are almost rock hard. but I will be getting oyster shell soon!

 

[BantamLover21]

Well, it sounds like your hens are returning to normal.

Unless she lays some more odd eggs, I bet that her egg-laying system was just maturing.
In answer to your other question, hens don't usually lay more than one egg at a time, and most sources say that they can't. Sometimes they do, though, if the first egg in the "assembly line" is prevented from being laid at the proper time, causing two eggs to be laid right after each other. However, despite that possibility, I would think that it is more likely that all of your hens are laying, as compared to one hen laying two eggs in a day.

 

[supercoopers]

Hi ... just joined BYC because I have read lots of useful articles. One of our 2 Bluebells nearly always lays double yolkers .. and recently laid a triple yolker! Ok - just settling in to her laying regime. Yesterday, things not so good as she produced a yolk with albumen attached to and outside of a soft shelled egg with another yolk ... just as described by Whispering Chick. The hens have been on oyster shell since point of lay and they have a varied diet of fresh greens from the garden, worms and of course layers pellets. Apple cyder vinegar a few days a month. The other 10 girls lay lovely single yolkers. Not had this problem before in 5 years of keeping hens. We keep meticulous records about the hens ... and know who the culprit is! She is a very good looking bird but I want normal eggs!! Any more ideas?