shell-less egg?

[mendozer]

Today I was going through the poop drawers under the coop floor in my elevated coop and found three eggs. One has hard shelled and cracked, another rubbery shelled and cracked, and a whole, but rubbery feeling egg.

I washed the whole one and stuck it in the fridge, but I've never seen an egg like this. They have a high quality feed with plenty of calcium, so what causes this? am I overreacting over something that just happens sometimes?

 

[audioguy]

There are other posts that talk about these leather eggs, or fart eggs. Only reason I know about the other posts is that my girls had the same problem when they first started to lay. We also had a few double yolkers too.
Its just a part of getting up to speed with the formation of the egg.

I feed them crushed egg shells too to boost the calcium level. We get thick shelled eggs as a result, or so I think!

 

[MamaMarcy]

Young birds? Sometimes nature just makes mistake eggs...usully when the birds are just learning how to make them...

 

[mendozer]

oh ok. i've been getting 2-3 daily out of 4 hens. so maybe one hasn't been laying and is just starting. I thought about giving them shells, but oyster shell is in the feed so i don't know. as long as i sterilize and crush the eggshells small, its ok right?

 

[Muggsmagee]

We've had several of them over the years from both our chickens and ducks. The soft eggs remind me of turtle eggs. They are most common in the young hens just starting to lay. There is nothing to worry about, they are just working the kinks out.

 

[mendozer]

so is it edible?

 

[Muggsmagee]

Quote:
I wouldn't eat it, it is just the membrane holding it together. With the outer shell the hen puts a cuticle (bloom) over the egg which prevents harmful bacteria from entering the egg. A soft shell is lacking the outer shell and therefore the protective coating. Unless there is nothing else on this planet for you to eat, I can only say cook it WELL for your survival!!!

I usually just feed those softshell wonky eggs to my pot belly pig.

 

[mendozer]

plus it was resting in the poop drawer too. other's say its safe to eat, so i'll break it open and smell it. nature's guide

 

[Muggsmagee]

Quote:
I'm confident harmful bacteria in it's infant stages can not be sniffed out by the human nose. Even though I was joking in the last post...seriously, I wouldn't eat it.

 

[Yay Chicks!]

Quote:
If I get a soft shelled egg that isn't broken, I hard cook it and feed it back to the birds. Personally, I wouldn't eat it.