membrane on the outside of shell...maybe trending to egg bound?

[AinaWGSD]

I'm afraid I don't know, but I can hold your hand and hope right along with you that it isn't a sign that she may be more prone to egg binding or internal laying. One of my EE, Merna, has laid several eggs like that. In fact, her very first egg was exactly as you described. She laid it off the roost, and when I picked it up I thought it was a frozen shell less egg. Then when I got it inside it became apparent that it had a second membrane (with one little dot of calcification) around a relatively normal fully shelled egg. In fact, 3 of her first 5 eggs had this weird membrane around them. She hasn't laid any in about a month (Feb 17), although so far all of her eggs have been very thin shelled. And she is in fact my worst, most sporadic layer.

It's not very good, far too blurry, but here's the only picture I have of one of her weird eggs. It looks pretty normal at a glance, but it is definitely a membrane and albumin (no yolk on any of hers) over a formed egg...like she was trying to make an egg within an egg but laid before the second egg shell could form.

Hopefully it's just a glitch that will work itself out and not a more ominous predictor of egg laying problems. Like I said, my girl seems to have worked out the extra membrane glitch. Now if I could just get her to stop laying off the roost, and thicken those shells up so that when she does lay in the nest box they don't crack as soon as the touch the other eggs.

Shandiane, that's exactly what my girls weird eggs looked like, minus the curly-Q tail!

 

[Petitebird]

I know this is an old thread, but I am really intrigued because one of my hens laid an egg like this, similar to yours. I hope she is okay.

Can anyone who has seen this before tell me what’s going on? She seems doing alright, but it took her a long time to lay this egg.

 

[One Lucky Momma]

This is so interesting. Do you know who produced this egg? How old? Usually a regular layer?

I‘ve had ladies lay uncalcified eggs with just the membrane holding things together, and I’ve had them occasionally lay what appears to be a length of membrane with a little yoke or white. I believe they are coming from the RIRs, daily layers that probably get off schedule in their inner workings… It’s always a rare occurrence and resolves itself without any intervention from me. That said, these RIR eggs sometime have very thin shells and I can’t help but to think the two issues are related.

I will follow here, hoping some of the eggsperts will check in. Meanwhile, good luck with your girl and I hope this isn‘t a harbinger of any longterm problem.

 

[Petitebird]

This is so interesting. Do you know who produced this egg? How old? Usually a regular layer?

I‘ve had ladies lay uncalcified eggs with just the membrane holding things together, and I’ve had them occasionally lay what appears to be a length of membrane with a little yoke or white. I believe they are coming from the RIRs, daily layers that probably get off schedule in their inner workings… It’s always a rare occurrence and resolves itself without any intervention from me. That said, these RIR eggs sometime have very thin shells and I can’t help but to think the two issues are related.

I will follow here, hoping some of the eggsperts will check in. Meanwhile, good luck with your girl and I hope this isn‘t a harbinger of any longterm problem.

You are exactly right! She is a RIR mix, and lays eggs everyday, and yesterday she laid some egg white stuff with membrane. She ate it right away before I was able to grab my phone to take a picture of it.

 

[One Lucky Momma]

Smart girl! I believe there’s a fair amt of protein in even the membranes of eggs.

Something you didn’t mention is where your girls are molt-wise. Could that be part of the picture? It can wreak havoc with egg production.

 

[Petitebird]

Smart girl! I believe there’s a fair amt of protein in even the membranes of eggs.

Something you didn’t mention is where your girls are molt-wise. Could that be part of the picture? It can wreak havoc with egg production.

She has always been laying, no molting this year because she is only eight months old.

 

[One Lucky Momma]

Well, that answers that. Just a hunch. Ours laid consistently through the first year, never slowed down even for winter. I’d heard about how egg production could get wonky and slow with molt, but it wasn’t until this year, our second summer with the girls, that I came to understand what that looks like. But obviously, wonky eggs can be the result of lots of things. Changes in diet or routine, a fight with a girlfriend, stress…

I’m hoping (and betting ) your girl will be back to normal within a day or two.

 

[Petitebird]

Thank you! She wasn’t feeling well yesterday, but she seems getting better today after dropping that egg.

 

[aart]

I know this is an old thread, but I am really intrigued because one of my hens laid an egg like this, similar to yours. I hope she is okay.

Can anyone who has seen this before tell me what’s going on? She seems doing alright, but it took her a long time to lay this egg.

Membrane over a hard shelled egg?
Anti peristalsis.
Fully shelled egg 'backs up' in the system and gets another coating of membrane.
Hopefully a one off glitch.

 

[Petitebird]

Membrane over a hard shelled egg?
Anti peristalsis.
Fully shelled egg 'backs up' in the system and gets another coating of membrane.
Hopefully a one off glitch.

I surely hope so.