very odd eggs

[GrannyA]

I wonder if anyone has ever seen this. My little silkie, Ginger, comes and talks to me and follows me around, but has little to do with the other hens. She tends to sit on the nest regularly but only lays a few times a week. Every so often her eggs are oddly shaped - wonky, wrinkled, pointed or smaller than usual. Today I found her egg lying in the run and it was certainly the oddest yet! I could find nothing online that could help explain this. It looked like a fully formed, regular egg wrapped inside a balloon, even tied off in a knot at the end! There was a little fluid inside the membrane. The shell is formed and hard.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

You may find this a little helpful https://www.yellowbirchhobbyfarm.com/weird-eggs-101-the-oddities-explained/

What does she eat? Does she have oyster shell available free choice as well?
I would lean toward her having some type of shell gland defect, but it's hard to know. Has she every had any illness that would include coughing, sneezing, runny nose, watery eyes?

 

[aart]

Looks like that egg got shelled then backed up and got more membrane added.
There's a word for the 'backing up' but I can't recall it at the moment.

 

[GrannyA]

Thanks very much for your helpful responses. Ginger is a young, otherwise healthy hen whose feed is predominantly layer pellets. She has free access to oyster shell and occasional healthy treats. One day later, the outer membrane and some of the fluid between it and the hard shell have started to dry. It seems likely now that it is an incomplete 'egg within an egg'. I can see evidence of the beginnings of another shell randomly positioned, and some of the remaining fluid has a yellow tinge.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Looks like that egg got shelled then backed up and got more membrane added.
There's a word for the 'backing up' but I can't recall it at the moment.

When it goes back up and comes back for more that's "Counter-peristalsis contraction".
When it's something like Internal Laying and the whole egg drops into the abdomen, it's
"Reverse peristalsis".