X-Ray Egg What the heck

[Lizzyduff]

This is my 8 month old Prairie Bluebell Egger. She's in emergency surgery right now. Anyone else seen this before? I didn't know this could happen...

 

[coach723]

Looks like an egg inside an egg, and enormous. Poor girl, no way she'd likely pass that. Ugh! Egg in an egg does sometimes happen, I usually see it in new layers, kind of a glitch. I've had some big ones, but that one must be a record! Best of luck, I hope surgery goes well and she fully recovers.

 

[Lizzyduff]

Looks like an egg inside an egg, and enormous. Poor girl, no way she'd likely pass that. Ugh! Egg in an egg does sometimes happen, I usually see it in new layers, kind of a glitch. I've had some big ones, but that one must be a record! Best of luck, I hope surgery goes well and she fully recovers.

Is it a one off thing or is it a chronic issue? Tryng to decide if we should stop her from laying anymore eggs...

 

[coach723]

In mine it has been a one off usually, happens with a new layer and once their system figures it all out, it stops. How long has she been laying, and have they all been normal up to now?
I've attached a few pictures of some of mine. The first was an egg in an egg, the other was a double yolker. Thankfully the bird was able to pass them, two different birds.

 

[AinaWGSD]

I'm so sorry your poor girl is going through this! It could be a one-off thing, but it could also potentially happen again. Unfortunately there's no way of knowing for sure. An egg in an egg is a fairly "normal" new layer glitch, but both of those eggs are enormous. To have such a big problem at such a young age i would probably try to prevent further egg laying if it were an option available to me.

 

[Lizzyduff]

In mine it has been a one off usually, happens with a new layer and once their system figures it all out, it stops. How long has she been laying, and have they all been normal up to now?
I've attached a few pictures of some of mine. The first was an egg in an egg, the other was a double yolker. Thankfully the bird was able to pass them, two different birds.
View attachment 4268733
View attachment 4268736
View attachment 4268737

She's only been laying for about 2 months. She had a couple lash eggs, an egg binding incident once... with the rest being normal until now.

 

[coach723]

Are you sure they were lash eggs? Or were they malformed eggs (sometimes they can look similar)? She's young for salpingitis (lash eggs) and malformed eggs are also often a glitch. When birds pass lash material, they usually cease laying, due to the infection/inflammation that causes the lash material. Seeing the large size of this one, egg binding would certainly be something that could be an issue. Very hard to know if this is something that would work itself out or whether it could be something that is repetitive with her. It is your call whether to have her cease laying or not. That can be expensive long term (implants usually have to be replaced periodically), but if it's doable for you then that choice would certainly be understandable. Maybe better than possibly having to do this again. Depending on what they have to do to remove that, it might be necessary to have her cease for a period of time anyway to allow her to heal. It's really up to you, what you are comfortable with.

 

[Lizzyduff]

Oh. You're probably right about the malformed egg since she's so young... I thought the term was interchangeable. Whoops. I've only had chickens for 4 years and on days like this i feel i don't know anything... I'll ask the vet about those options when she gets out of surgery, hopefully in an hour... I don't care if she ever lays again. I just want my sweet girl back safe and out of pain.

 

[Eggcessive]

There are some strange eggs and the possible reasons for them in this article:
https://bitchinchickens.com/2019/03/01/weird-eggs-101/
Here is another good article about reasons for different eggs:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/common-egg-quality-problems.65923/

 

[Susan Skylark]

Awesome radiograph, not awesome for you or your bird! DVM360 (magazine) has a yearly contest for coolest/weirdest x-rays, snakes that eat lightbulbs, dogs that swallow knives whole, and my favorite a pregnant dog with an inguinal hernia with pregnant uterus in the hernia (yes, a herniated puppy!), yours would be competitive. Hope it turns out well for you and the hen!