Shell membrane hanging from her vent

[LT]

This morning while collecting eggs, I noticed a yolk and white on the floor of the coop. There was no soft shell or shell at all. I am fairly certain it was dropped from the roost overnight, because it looked dried a bit. I had to leave for work, so I left a message for my husband to check them when he got home. He noticed one of them with something white hanging from her vent. He called to tell me about it and said she was sitting in the nest box. When I got home, we went in to check on her, and she was still in the nest box, even though the other girls were roosting. She came right to me, so I picked her up and my husband was able to inspect her vent a bit more closely. The "shell" was there and quite slimy. Some of it is stuck to her downy feathers around her butt. He was able to pull about 1/3 of it out, but the rest of it went back up inside her. Her vent seems perfectly normal, and I felt around her pelvis area, and I did not feel anything that would be another egg. So here are my questions: will the rest of that shell come out? will it affect her next egg laying? if so, what are the signs I should look for that something is wrong? and finally, how do I get the rubbery shell off of her feathers?

 

[so lucky]

My first thought would be to bring her in and soak her in a warm bath. She might relax enough to expel the rest of the egg shell. You could get the stuck-on stuff off after soaking it a while. Blow dry her completely before putting her back out in the cold, I would think. Did you say it was rubbery? It wouldn't cut her insides? That's what would worry me.

 

[LT]

It was definitely not a fully formed shell. It was very sticky and slimy.

 

[6chickens in St. Charles]

Yes, a warm bath, playing a lovely opera (Lakme') in the warm bathroom, tell her your secrets. Spend some special girl time with her She'll love it.

Blow drying a live chicken takes about an hour. Be very careful about the heat, it would be easy to accidentally burn her skin. Keep your own free hand between the hot air and the chicken, fluffing her up as you go, so you can feel the heat and move it around before it can burn.

 

[LT]

I just went out to check on her again, and she is on the roost with the others, so I think that is a good sign. I will check her again in the morning.

 

[Ruth Ann]

Sounds kind of like my trouble a few days ago. I noticed eggshell (leathery) hanging out part the way. After letting her try to expel it..I caught her...held her in my lap. I put a damp warm cloth on her bumm and softened the area. It was sticking to her bumm. After a short while I could pull the shell out and whipe her bumm. She seems fine.