Wet egg

[K0k0shka]

I found a similar thread but it was about an egg being just a little bit wet as if with a few drops of water. Not really the same as what I found, so I thought I'd start a new thread to ask. Yesterday I collected an egg that was VERY wet, but not like water kind of wet, but wet and slimy - though clear, not like broken yolk/white kind of slimy. It was so wet that the hay underneath it in the nesting box was wet and matted, and the floor of the box was wet. Mucusy kind of wet. No eggshells or yellow or anything to indicate there had been a broken egg, though that was my first thought, because of the mucusy nature of the wetness. I have occasionally found a broken egg in the nesting box, but it was always recognizable as such, with eggshell and smeared yolk and what not. This time, there was not a single piece of shell anywhere. The wet egg itself was completely intact (I washed and examined it). No bits of shell in the coop or run either. All chickens were acting fine. They are just a little under a year old, and seem healthy. What kind of bodily process or problem could produce such a slimy egg, and should I be concerned?

P.S. I thought it might have been the bloom, but it wasn't like any bloom I've ever seen before. I've collected eggs right after being laid before. Hot out of the oven. They are, if anything, only very slightly moist, and very warm. This egg was cold, so it must have sat there for a while, with plenty of time for the bloom to dry up (bloom dries quickly). I've never seen the bloom soak everything under the egg and cause the hay to mat and drip like that.... So... Bloom gone wrong? Or something else?

 

[pvchicken1]

I would not be concerned. IT was probably a very freshly egg like only a few minutes old. When the eggs comes out of a hen it is covered in slimy, wet stuff.

 

[K0k0shka]

I would not be concerned. IT was probably a very freshly egg like only a few minutes old. When the eggs comes out of a hen it is covered in slimy, wet stuff.

It was more than that though (I'll add to the post to elaborate). I've collected eggs right after being laid before. Hot out of the oven. They are, if anything, only very slightly moist, and very warm. This egg was cold, so it must have sat there for a while, with plenty of time for the bloom to dry up (bloom dries quickly). I've never seen the bloom soak everything under the egg and cause the hay to mat and drip like that....

 

[pvchicken1]

It was more than that though (I'll add to the post to elaborate). I've collected eggs right after being laid before. Hot out of the oven. They are, if anything, only very slightly moist, and very warm. This egg was cold, so it must have sat there for a while, with plenty of time for the bloom to dry up (bloom dries quickly). I've never seen the bloom soak everything under the egg and cause the hay to mat and drip like that....

Maybe it was a runny poop that came out with the egg.

 

[Dottie the Chicken]

Perhaps an egg had been broken, but the hen(s) cleaned it up really well.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Could be a broken egg that was fully consumed, or an unusual amount of bloom. I might have had that last week... no indication of a broken egg (no yellow stain from a yolk, no shells) but a very sticky egg with dampness underneath. I wiped the egg off and still no sign of a yolk which I would expect from a broken egg.

Today I got an egg from the same layer that was "dry" but remained noticeably tacky even though it was cool from having sat in the nest for a while.

 

[aart]

It was more than that though (I'll add to the post to elaborate). I've collected eggs right after being laid before. Hot out of the oven. They are, if anything, only very slightly moist, and very warm. This egg was cold, so it must have sat there for a while, with plenty of time for the bloom to dry up (bloom dries quickly). I've never seen the bloom soak everything under the egg and cause the hay to mat and drip like that....

Hmmmm.
Do you know which bird laid it...were her nethers soiled/wet??

 

[KelseyBoxer]

This may be way off topic, but one time my DH brought the eggs in and one was so dirty with matted hay and thick sticky stuff. I washed it off but some debris was still stuck. I asked about that one and he found it in the mouth of a large rat snake! The snake couldn't swallow the egg fast enough so he pulled the snake out of the box, tossed it into the trees and gathered the intact egg. I fed it to the dog.

 

[K0k0shka]

Maybe it was a runny poop that came out with the egg.

Yeah, I guess it could have been a very runny, very clear poop... Would that indicate a problem?

 

[K0k0shka]

Perhaps an egg had been broken, but the hen(s) cleaned it up really well.

They must be getting really good at it