My hen laid a chick

[Maggies Momma]

I collect our eggs each night so the nests are empty each morning when my hens begin to lay. Sunday night when I went to collect eggs, I found a naked chick in one of the nesting boxes. Judging from the size and what I found online, I would say it was about 14 days into growth. There wasn't any egg shell, just the chick. Has anyone experienced this before? I've never heard of it, nor have I seen it and I'm a little concerned that this could occur again or that we may crack open an egg and find an under developed embryo inside. Also, we don't candle our eggs.
Any advice, suggestions or input is greatly appreciated.

 

[TexasLea]

There was just a post with a news link for a story about a chick with no egg. Here's the link to the post:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/680531/eggless-chick-laid-by-hen-in-sri-lanka

 

[Maggies Momma]

I did see that after someone posted it here. I was surprised at how many people didn't believe that it was possible. I was really surprised to find it myself, although our chick wasn't completely incubated yet. It was gross.
I figure that if I find a dead hen, she is most likely the one who laid the chick.

 

[Bullitt]

I collect our eggs each night so the nests are empty each morning when my hens begin to lay. Sunday night when I went to collect eggs, I found a naked chick in one of the nesting boxes. Judging from the size and what I found online, I would say it was about 14 days into growth. There wasn't any egg shell, just the chick. Has anyone experienced this before? I've never heard of it, nor have I seen it and I'm a little concerned that this could occur again or that we may crack open an egg and find an under developed embryo inside. Also, we don't candle our eggs.
Any advice, suggestions or input is greatly appreciated.

Are you saying it was a dead chick that seems like it had developed for about 14 days in the egg?

If so, the only thing I can think of is the hen was egg bound and the chick started developing until the egg cracked.

 

[Maggies Momma]

Yeah, it was a dead chick.

At first I wasn't sure what it was. It looked like a ball of yolk, but (with gloves on) I picked it up, turned it over and sure enough it was a chick. I have read other posts and saw pictures where the ball was all yolk, which is what ours looked like on one side, but once turned over, it was completely formed, head, neck, wing, spine, body, legs. The yolk side wasn't severe though, very little.

I've been watching my flock to see signs of injury or possible egg bound hens, but so far nothing. We do collect eggs every night, and check every nesting box and haven't seen another chick. Our hens are free range, free nesting and feeding, so if a hen laid anything out in their yard, I haven't seen it. We have always made sure they have oyster shells available, and with an automatic water bowl, they always have fresh water. I read that calcium helps egg bound hens. I'm not sure if that is true, but I do know it helps with weak, soft shells.

 

[flewdacoop]

thats crazy

 

[Maggies Momma]

I know right? I've never seen it before.

 

[Pele]

I did see that after someone posted it here. I was surprised at how many people didn't believe that it was possible. I was really surprised to find it myself, although our chick wasn't completely incubated yet. It was gross.
I figure that if I find a dead hen, she is most likely the one who laid the chick.

It's entirely possible that a hen could become eggbound and eventually pass the egg with a early-death embryo inside.

But anyone who has hatched eggs can tell you that conditions have to be very specific for an egg to successfully hatch. The insides of a hen have no such conditions (lack of oxygen, egg filling with fluid, bacterial infection, hen's immune system invading the egg and killing it, hen becoming feverish due to a foreign body and killing egg with high temps.... the list goes on and on and on and on).

That is why the Sri-Lanka article is just a villager trying to make money off of a supposed 'miracle' chicken. You can't really hold it against them though, because most of the conditions over there would make anyone say anything to get some money for their family to get food.

 

[animaladdictions]

That's one of the weirdest things I've ever heard! Id be scratching my head on that one for sure! I don't see how the hen could've been "eggbound" though because you said there was no evidence of a broken shell around the chick. It just doesn't make sense. This is a stretch but..... I wonder if its possible that one of the hens found a wild birds nest, broke into the egg, and some how carried the contents back to the nest? That almost sounds crazier than a hen laying a half developed baby chick though! Lol.....SO WEIRD!