Egg missing shell

[Biggles]

Hi,
I have a hen sitting on lots of eggs (8). I checked them early on and most didn't look fertile, but thought I'd leave them a little just in case.
I went to check today, and one had gone, so I had a look round and found a bit of egg shell, so I assumed it had broken. While I was checking, I turned one of the other eggs over and found that about 1/3 the shell is missing. It definitely isn't the bit of shell that's I found (wrong colour as well as shape).
There's a thick white membrane over the egg where the shell is missing. And here's the odd thing... I quickly candled it, and it looks like there's a (currently) live baby inside!

What has happened to it? It could have come out like that, but I don't think so as there was a definite sharp edge where the shell finished.

I don't rate the chick's chance of survival very high unfortunately

[Marianne Marlow]

Aww. That is so sad.

Does the hen have enough calcium in her diet?

[Biggles]

Sad update: I went back to see how things were going and the egg had been pushed out of the nest and was stone cold. This is what it looked like. Very sadly I don't think the chick had died very long ago as I could still see blood vessels, but the chick had definitely died.



I think she's had plenty of calcium. She's certainly been at the cuttlefish and has lots of spinach daily.

[skysmum]

That is sad, is mum trying to eat them maybe or are there other hens around that are seeking to destroy.

I had a hen that insisted on laying eggs and they were soft shelled but it was all over, that one looks as if its been damaged.

[Hezz]

I agree with skysmum, in that the egg looks to have been damaged which suggests the hen given that the egg had been pushed out of the nest. Eggs laid by a hen with a low calcium load will be soft all over, not have a random spot of no shell.

How many eggs does the hen have now? Be prepared for her to do the same with some or all of the others as well, as it seems that once a hen damages her eggs once, it becomes a bit of a habit. If breeders find a hen doing this, they will usually not use this hen again for breeding.

[Biggles]

I've removed all the eggs and replaced them with plastic ones except one which might be fertilised. I think it started developing but is dead in shell, but I'm going to leave it a little just in case.
Interestingly one of the ones I removed had a small soft patch on one side. Not the whole shell, but just a little patch, like the end of a little finger on one side.

I'll give her a little time to see if that egg hatches, but I suspect not, and then I'll put her in with the old fellows rather than the big cage, so she doesn't have too vigorous competition for food.