Are bird egg soft or hard?

It depends on the age of the alligator egg.

Alligators lay hard-shelled, almost porcelain like eggs. However, underneath the hard exterior, of the alligator egg shell, is a leathery, and quite soft, inner shell layer. Much thicker, more substantial and leathery than the inner layer inside a bird's egg.

As the alligator in the egg develops the outer hard-shell slowly thins as it is absorbed by the growing alligator. By the time they're born, their eggs can look almost leathery because most of the outer layer has gone, revealing the softer inner layer underneath. The softer inner layer is particularly visible as the alligator pushes out of the egg as it finally hatches.