What the heck is this?

[critterkeeper25]

I went to collect the eggs today and found this laying on top of the eggs! I picked it up with my fingers and it has the texture/feel of a piece of cooked chicken. I don't know why, but it made me want to throw up. LOL It also has a right angle to it. I am assuming that it is an egg without a shell, maybe collapsed without its contents? Has anyone ever come accross anything like this before?










The other object in the photos is a foam earplug for size comparison.

 

[Hens rule]

That looks like a lash egg. A lash egg is not really an egg but it's actually made of pus from a bacterial or virus infection inside of her oviduct called salpingitis.

Can you cut it in half and show a picture of the inside.
Here is some info on lash eggs for you...

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2014/12/salpingitis-lash-eggs-in-backyard.html

 

[holm25]

I agree it looks like a lash egg.

 

[rides2far]

I've had 2 of those so far from a pullet just starting to lay. It looked normal inside, just soft shelled. If they are 'normal' appearing inside, can that be normal for a pullet just starting to lay? They have just been switched to layer feed, but I've had oyster shell out for a couple of weeks. They just turned 18 weeks old. Thanks

 

[Hens rule]

I've had 2 of those so far from a pullet just starting to lay. It looked normal inside, just soft shelled. If they are 'normal' appearing inside, can that be normal for a pullet just starting to lay? They have just been switched to layer feed, but I've had oyster shell out for a couple of weeks. They just turned 18 weeks old. Thanks

Those usually aren't normal for pullets and full grown hens. But since they just started to lay it means that her oviduct hasn't been infected to long. Just give her antibiotics for a week or 2 and she'll be fine.

 

[critterkeeper25]

I visited the link to the Chicken Chick and read about the Lash Eggs. She mentioned euthanizing the entire flock. Does this mean that this infection is contagious to the rest of our hens? We have 17 hens. I have no idea who this thing came from. Can the entire flock be treated with antibiotics? I am going to go and take a cross section pic of the thing now.

I can say that last week when I collected the eggs, I found a perfectly formed egg without a shell. It was contained by nothing more than the membrane. We have had 1 soft shelled egg in the nest box periodicly since they began to lay. This was the first time we had one with no shell at all. I hope that it isn't what everyone thinks it is. I don't want to lose one hen, let alone our whole flock. They are our pets.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I've had 2 of those so far from a pullet just starting to lay. It looked normal inside, just soft shelled. If they are 'normal' appearing inside, can that be normal for a pullet just starting to lay? They have just been switched to layer feed, but I've had oyster shell out for a couple of weeks. They just turned 18 weeks old. Thanks

What you have described above is different than what the OP is dealing with. Soft shelled/shell-less eggs such as you have seen from your new layers are not at all similar to lash eggs either inside or out.

 

[Messipaw]

It's a lash egg

 

[rides2far]

Thanks Ol Grey Mare

 

[critterkeeper25]

Okay, I just cut the thing in half. Got 2 pics of it below. I can tell you that it is slightly "crunchy" inside. It is a collapsed thin shelled egg inside a casing of sorts. There was some fluid inside of this thing, inside of the thin shelled egg. Does this mean that it is still some sort of infection? or was it an egg that didn't pass through properly that was contained by this walling off substance? I'm really worried as we are supposed to be going on vacation this week and we have a friend coming to check on our animals while we are away. We have reservations, the whole kabootle.