strange looking egg

[pgalchix]

my girls are a year old, they have been laying strong allwinter but I got a weird looking egg last night it was very soft but had no shell? I could pick it upbut soft and rubbery like a squishy ball. should I be concerned one of them are sick

 

[BuffOrps32]

Possibly protein deficiency, do you offer oyster shell?

 

[TwentyOneChickens]

She isn't sick - sometimes this happens when the chicken doesn't have enough calcium or protein. Do you feed cracked oyster shells? That should help.

Just don't eat the egg. She'll be fine

 

[aart]

my girls are a year old, they have been laying strong allwinter but I got a weird looking egg last night it was very soft but had no shell? I could pick it upbut soft and rubbery like a squishy ball. should I be concerned one of them are sick

Welcome to BYC! @pgalchix
'Soft shell' eggs can have several causes.
Sometimes it's just a one off glitch, possibly caused from a stressor.
Frequent softies can be a diet or disease issue.
More info would help:
-your flock size(numbers, ages, genders),
-your coop(size in feet by feet with pics),
-and what and how exactly you are feeding,
might offer clues to if there is a solvable problem.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You might check out this link. It lists several possible causes. Sickness is in the list but way down. Don't panic yet, probably no reason to.

https://thepoultrysite.com/publications/egg-quality-handbook/16/thinshelled-eggs-and-shellless-eggs

Something not mentioned and a fairly common cause is that occasionally a hen can lay two eggs in one day. For some reason her body releases two yolks instead of one. If both yolks are released at the same time you can get a double-yolked egg. If the yolks are released at different times the first egg sometimes uses up the available shell material so the second one can be really thin-shelled or down-right soft shelled.

If the soft-shelled egg is a one time thing, no big deal. We are all entitled to an occasional oops. If you start to see it on a regular basis them you need to look into it.

When I see issues I try to determine if it is a flock-wide thing or an individual thing. That way I'm less likely to injure the others if it is an individual thing. If the other hen's egg are normal, it is not a flock-wide issue.