Two eggs in one day, second with no shell

[HeyHo]

I have a 9-month old Golden Comet, Rosie, that laid a shell less egg this evening. I collected eggs at 4 p.m. and had 6 eggs (I have 6 pullets, so everyone was productive today ). I checked on her about 6 p.m. because she has been trying to sleep in the nesting boxes the last few nights and I have had to shoo her out. When I nudged Rosie out of the box tonight, this egg was under her. It was still warm. The feathers on her breast were a bit wet, as if she got some of the white on her. She hopped right up onto the roost and is cuddled with the others now. I feed flock raiser crumbles with a side of oyster shell, that I have to refill often.

Is this normal for a pullet of her age? Is it related to the fact that she already laid an egg today? Is it related to her wanting to sleep in the nesting boxes? Is there anything else I should be doing?

 

[Clousic Chicks]

One of my 8 month old Australorps did the exact same thing last week—completely no shell. She took a couple of days off from laying after that (maybe just one day) and has been laying normally since. She’s s young layer and very healthy so I didn’t even really think about it.

I think sometimes a second egg is released (like would be for a double yoker) but for whatever reason doesn’t get in the shell! I wouldn’t be concerned unless she’s acting ill as well —not eating, drinking or doing “chicken things”!

 

[Melky]

Here is an article for egg quality trouble shooting. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/common-egg-quality-problems.65923/
My guess is just young and immaturity caused early release of second egg and eggshell gland not yet fully mature. Make sure on good nutritious diet with OS on the side free choice.

 

[HeyHo]

Thanks for the responses!

I feed flock raiser crumbles with a side of oyster shell and grit. I did recently switch brands of oyster shell when I couldn't get to TSC, so I ordered a bag of the "natural" stuff from Amazon. They seem to eat both kinds at the same rate, so I didn't worry about it. The girls get about an hour of free range a day when weather/schedule permits. Some treats -- a little scratch when they go back into the coop after recess. And maybe every other day they get some greens, fruit, yogurt or mash. So I don't think it is diet/treat related.

I will chalk it up to being a relatively new layer. Rosie marches to her own drummer anyway, always different than the rest of the flock.

 

[azygous]

This problem with releasing two yolks within the same 24 hour period is more common than folks believe. Usually the yolks get combined in the same egg and there's no problem other than the egg being of a much larger size than normal.

However, some hens, for some unknown reason, young or older, will release the two yolks far enough apart for them to become individual eggs. The problem arises when there's only sufficient calcium in the egg gland to make one shell. The other egg will have a paper thin shell at best, or no shell at all. Either of these two is risky for the hen since it's easier for a thin shell to collapse or a shell-less egg to get hung up in the reproductive track.

When that happens, a hen becomes uncomfortable, probably suffers cramping, and has an urge to confine herself to a nest for comfort and hope of release. Whenever, I see a hen spending more than the usual amount of time in a nest or hanging out in a nest during the latter part of the day or at roosting time, it signals to me that there's a possible stuck egg.

Even if I'm not certain that a stuck egg is responsible for her unusual behavior, I will give her a calcium supplement, usually calcium citrate 400mg minimum. This will help her with the contractions and to expel the stuck egg. If she passes one egg, and reappears a little later in the nest again, I assume there's another egg following close behind the first, and I may bring her inside and put her in a crate on a moist warm towel with a heating pad under it set to low heat. If this continues into a second day, she will get another calcium tablet and continue to rest on the moist heat until she expels the egg or an intact shell-less egg.

One last caution. If the remains of a crushed egg or a ruptured shell-less egg is expelled, I will start the hen on a full round of an oral antibiotic to head off a nearly certain infection caused by inflammation from the ruptured egg. If this is done early in a preventative manner, rather than waiting for the hen to develop peritonitis, there's every reason to expect she will recover and continue to lay normal eggs.

 

[HeyHo]

@azygous thank you for the information! I hope you are right and it is just the somewhat common release of two yolks in one day.

I am concerned that she's been feeling "off" since she's been trying to sleep in the nesting boxes. But she's always been an individual -- roosting out in the run, the last one to return to the coop at recess, etc. Sometimes I think she has vision or hearing issues because she just doesn't respond like the other pullets do. She does not seem to understand the pecking order and will try to take a treat out from under the nose of the head hen. But she is very brave (she looks for the hawk when the others make the danger call) and she's a loner, exploring in the woods by herself. So her behavior is never really "normal."

I tend to overreact. So I will try to just watch her for a few days and see what happens. But I will start her on some calcium supplements to be safe and check her for a stuck egg/bring her into the house for closer evaluation if anything seems "off."