The Story Of Anastasia Koo And How Chickens Changed Her Life

 Let's Talk About Eggs Part 3

What to do if an egg breaks inside a hen?

It is not always easy to spot, especially if it is a soft shell egg.

But it is extremely dangerous to your hen as the egg yolk is a breeding ground for bacteria, and can cause an infection known as egg yolk peritonitis. If left untreated it can cause death.

 

Signs of an egg breaking internally in a hen:

Your hen will look pretty miserable and depressed. She will be keeping herself away from the rest of the flock.

My hens tend to stand in a GT stance, bum up and front of the body lower , and not in the typical Penguin stance. When I see these first signs I immediate start preparing their warm Epson salt bath .

Typical GT stance

GT Stance front view

You will also notice that their vent is pulsating, a sign of them straining.

Their poop is also much different than their normal poop, it is slimier, smaller and the closer they get to pass the egg the more watery it becomes.

They look very uncomfortable and waddle more than walk.

You may even see yolk running or dripping from her vent if the egg has already broken inside.

Yolk Dripping from the vent

There may be dried traces of yolk on her feathers surrounding the vent area if it happened during the night or earlier in the day.

You may notice that her poop will have traces of yolk in it, I noticed with my hens that the yolk was mixed in with the urates , making the white a yellowish.

 

If your hen struggled to pass a soft shell, you may even find the soft shell still hanging out of her vent.

Soft eggshell stuck in vent

What to do:

There isn’t much you can do when this happens. Especially with a soft shell.

As with an egg bound hen, prepare a warm Epson salt bath for her. 1 cup salt to 1 gallon of water.

You can give her some calcium before the warm Epson salt bath.

Gently lower the hen into the water and let her soak for about 15-20 minutes, make sure that her vent is submerged.

Gently remove her from the water and towel dry her, you want to keep her stress to a minimum, so if she isn’t used to a hairdryer don’t attempt using it at this time.

Place her in a warm, dark and quiet room.  You want her to relax.

You may have to do the soak a few times until she passes the egg.

Keep in mind that this may take a few hours with a soft shell egg, as a hen’s vent is not made to pass such soft balloon-like eggs. I have noticed that it can take my hens anything from an hour up to 8 hours to pass these eggs.

If you have a vet nearby it is best to take her there to help remove the soft egg.

You can attempt to remove the soft shell at home if it is hanging out of the vent, But do keep in mind very soft eggs will tear very easily and can worsen matters. So don’t just pull, do it slowly and if it feels like the soft shell is giving way, then stop immediately, as you don’t want it to tear.

Some people advise on doing a vinegar and water solution vent flush, I myself have not done this as you can push more of the yolk further into her oviduct, which may make it harder for her to expel. You can use your own judgement on doing the vent flush.

 

After the broken egg:

Keep your hen calm after this experience, it will be physically very draining on her and you can expect her to still act depressed for up to a day.

But if she refuses to eat, acts listless, and is all fluffed up it could be the first signs of an infection.

It can also mean that she hasn’t passed all of the eggshells, she will act down and be uncomfortable especially if it is a hard shell.

It may take them a few days to pass that, but it does increase the risk of infection. You can do a vent check, just be careful to prevent any broken shells from cutting her.

This eggshell took three days to pass, resulting in an infection.

If your hen shows signs of infection, take her to the nearest vet as soon as possible.

Or if you can’t and have Baytril at hand, immediately start her on it.

Some people even suggest penicillin.

 

What causes this?

A hen may be near the point of laying her egg and jumped off a high place and on landing cracked the egg.

The shell may have  been too soft and broke during contraction, it happened with my recent rescue.

( It took her three days to pass the rest of the eggshell ) ( she was on antibiotics at the time and the vet suggested to give her a few days before we tried to intervene )

In regards to soft shell eggs, they tend to get stuck as the hen tries to lay the egg, they ( the eggs ) can form a tail and if they are very soft, the contractions and the weight of the egg yolk and white can causes them to tear.

Softshell egg filled with egg white weighing
 it down and causing it to tear.

There are many reasons for soft-shelled eggs, such as Lack of calcium, EDS, Mycoplasma, New layers, Excessive heat and humidity, Genetic defects and even some breeds are more prone to them. There are so many possible causes that it is hard to determine which is actually causing the soft shell eggs.

If your hen is prone to laying soft shell eggs that break inside of her try to explore possible options at helping her, as this can cause very serious problems, from prolapses to infections.

You can give your hen a hormone chip to stop her from laying eggs again for a few months

Some vets even spay the hens, removing her reproductive organs.

Blood tests can go a long way in helping you find the cause of her problems.

X rays are also used to try and determine the cause.

Speak to your vet for the best possible options.

 

Blood on eggshell ! What now?

So you have gone to collect your eggs, and you spot an egg all covered with blood smears!

I know, your heart nearly stops dead!

Is it something serious or is it normal?

Blood on an egg - Pullets tend to have some blood on their first egg.

Causes :

If it is a young pullet that has laid her first ever egg, then you will be glad to hear it is quite common.

It is no cause for alarm at all, it is just a few blood vessels that tore during her vent stretching to accommodate the passing egg. And in a few days, her vent will be used to laying these things called eggs.

 

It can also occur when a hen passes an unusually large egg, such as a double yolker.

 

An obese hen will also have blood on the egg.

 

Wear and tear due to ageing in older hens.

 

Mites can cause bloody eggs, as the hen lays an egg a mite can get squished during the laying process, causing a smear of blood.

 

mites located at the vent ( credit: poultrydvm.com)

But if there is lots of blood, and if there is blood on the egg every day, or if you see blood on your hen’s vent, then there may be the cause of alarm. I will suggest you contact your vet so that they can examine your hen as it may be a sign of prolapse or other issues.

 

It is best to inspect your hens' vents on a regular basis.

Make sure they are clean, free of mites and any trauma.

 

Weird stuff found in eggs :

So you are ready to eat fresh little butt nugget, you crack it open and find something weird inside your egg !!

What is it? What does it mean?

 

Weird things to be found in eggs:

Brown spot in the egg -  Thankfully they are not a cause for concern, they are just a little meat spots.

Meat spots are caused by the rupture of a blood vessel on the yolk surface when it is being formed or by a similar accident in the wall of the ova. And yes they are fit to eat.

Brown spots-Meat spots (credit: Healthline.com)

The weird white stringy thing in eggs – It’s the chalaza.

Chalazae (credit:twitter.com)

It can be found on two sides of the yolk and their main purpose is to hold the yolk at the centre of the egg.

The cords are a special form of protein and are connected to both the lining of the eggshell and the yolk.

The chalaza will disappear as the egg ages, so if you crack an egg and you can’t see the chalazae you know it has been sitting on the rack for a while.

 

You can even find an egg inside an egg.

Egg inside an egg (Credit:finedininglovers.com)

You can find a lash egg inside an egg – this is usually a sign of an infection.

A tiny lash egg found inside a soft-shelled egg- causes
are usually Salpanghitis.

Worms in eggs- Every now and then a roundworm will crawl into a hen’s oviduct and will wind up inside the egg she lays. It is not hazardous to humans, but it is yukky!

Google photo

Worms can be found in eggs ( Credit:backyardchickens.com)

Unformed egg inside an egg-  It is rare but not unheard of, an egg is laid inside another egg. It could be a messed up attempt at a second egg when the body’s timing was a bit off, and not putting enough space between the eggs when trying to manufacture two per day.

This was an underdeveloped egg found inside
one of my Golden Comet.

Blood spots-  Same principle as a meat spot, but a blood spot tends to smear on the yolk, where a meat spot tends to float free in the egg white. Blood spots may be triggered by too little vitamin, or it may be hereditary.

Blood spots found in eggs are common ( Credit: onlymyhealth.com)

                                             

As you can see hens can have a lot of problems with egg laying, you can find odd eggs.

So remember not all eggs are perfect.

Some may look downright scary, but keep in mind it doesn’t always mean that there is something wrong with your hen, it may just be a bit of a malfunction during the egg production process.

 Happy Chicken Keeping!