Shell-less egg outside of coop

[MessyJo]

I have a pullet that has laid 2 eggs now and i think she laid a shell-less egg today. While I'm understanding that it's normal for this stage of new egg laying, I am wondering about other details. I let them out of the run this evening, like I do most evenings and later I saw one of the girls running with something dangling out of her mouth. I went to see if they had caught another lizard and it looked like a slimy, deflated white ish balloon. The rest of them were picking at a glob of what i assume was the "white" of the egg.

My question is: is it weird that the egg was laid outside of the coop? It just seemed to have been laid/popped out randomly while they were foraging. Also, is it a problem that they all ate it? Will they start trying to eat their own eggs?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

No, it's not weird that it was laid outside of the coop. A pullet just coming into lay can often be confused and may not realize she needs to get to the box. As time goes by she will settle and lay her egg normally (hopefully). I've had hens that use boxes, corners of the coop or even a nice little cozy spot in the run. You learn where they lay their eggs and just collect them.

I've never had an issue with birds eating normal hard shelled eggs just because they found a random soft shelled egg in the run/outside.