strange straw thin egg, no shell

[yallapilko]

Hi all,
Any ideas what's going on with my Japanese Quail.
She laid and egg that was hanging out of her vent, (also vent protruded) that was around 7cm, say 3 inches long, but only the thickness of a drinking straw, and had membrane only, no shell.
I gently pulled it out, and it broke leaving a small amount behind which was later expelled.
Does anyone know what happened here?
I thought she may be egg bound, but I'm not sure of the signs, she is walking properly, and I put her in a warm bath to cover her vent, then on a heat pad. I also gently put her vent back in.
She seems fine now, but I've never seen anything like it!

 

[TwoCrows]

I have had this happen with a few of my Bobwhite females. Generally my older females. Thin egg shells or even shell-less eggs normally happen from not enough calcium in the diet. Also, some types of calcium are not absorbed as easily by different birds.

Another reason a hen may lay a shell-less egg is that she became frightened when the egg was in that last stage of "putting on the shell" and she passed it too quick.

As to why they sometimes come out thin and stringy, I am not sure of that. But it is good that you caught that as these types of dried up egg sometimes block the intestinal tract.

 

[yallapilko]

Hi Twocrowsranch- Thanks for your reply. She is an old girl, well about one and a half years old, and usually a fantastic layer. It could be that she got scared, as I had to give her a foot soak the day before as she had a small toe ball. So, she may have got upset. I've seen shellless eggs before, and have tubs of fine oyster shell grit for them to eat, but who can say if she tucked into it or not! But the long and immensely thin shape is new to me! She's not always been a healthy bird, she was underweight for a while, and tends to get an over grown beak, which I have to clip, but now is an average weight. Well I'm glad it didn't block her intestinal track as she's about my favourite bird as I've had to put a lot of work into keeping her healthy!

 

[yallapilko]

Eeek! She seems to be limping now....

 

[TwoCrows]

Hens can have all sorts of laying issues, many of which we can do nothing about. If the bird has other health issues, then laying problems can intensify only because laying is very taxing to hens. Takes a lot of nutrients, calcium and proper internal functions to lay eggs. They say that the chances of a hen dying from reproductive issues is higher than any other disease they can die of. Keep an eye on her and keep her comfortable.

 

[yallapilko]

Well today she is no longer limping and seems quite healthy,so I''m optomisistic.
Yes it does seem like reproduction problems are a big issue overall. I've lost one or two that way with blow out vents the would not respond to being put in.But I'm glad to say this girl is on the mend.