An Odd Winter Egg

I found this odd egg in the nesting box.

rough egg

 

If I see an egg like this in the summer, I worry. Perhaps an older hen is having difficulty laying. Perhaps the flock’s diet needs adjusting. But, I’m delighted when I get an egg like this in the winter because it means that one of the girls is back in production.

In order for an egg to by uniform in shape and color, it needs to be moving, and slowly rotating, all the way along the reproductive tract.  My guess is that this is the first egg laid since the molt, and, for some reason, it stayed too long in one spot in the oviduct.

It tasted delicious for breakfast.

Comments:

  1. Kind of freaky, aren’t they. I got an egg the other day that reminded me of one of those Russian Nesting Dolls.

  2. I marvel at each egg that is laid and always tell my girls “thank-you” when collecting the fruits of their labor. They seem so proud. Maybe this early egg is a better predictor of the seasons than that old Groundhog in Pennsylvania!

  3. Isn’t that strange, it looks like it has frost around it. I’m a bit quesy about eggs, I don’t know if I would have eaten it?!

    • ps of course my eggs come from the supermarket – but I do buy Vermont eggs!

      • My 18 year old daughter told me the other day, ‘Dad your chicken’s eggs gross me out. The yolks are so bright orange, not yellow like the eggs from Safeway.” I told her, you have it all turned around. Dull yellow eggs coming from chickens crowded into cages so small they have to cut the beaks off the birds or they’ll kill each other, now that’s gross.”

        • I had someone tell me that something was wrong with my eggs because when she put a fork in the raw yolk, it held together. She had no idea that yolks get runny with age.

  4. I am eagerly awaiting the first egg from our Easter Egger. She is the only one of our three 10 month old pullets that went into a moult in November. Her comb is getting redder and today was the first time in quite a while that she did the squat for me. If her blue egg comes out looking anything like your picture, I’m blowing it and saving for posterity. :-)

    • I blow out the eggs, save the shells, and still have the egg to eat. Thanks for the reminder. I’ll do a post soon about that.

      • I would love directions for saving the shells! My 9-month-old EE Sadie just gave us her first perfect blue-green egg the other day and I can’t bear to crack it.

  5. I get weird eggs like this a lot, but I do get lots more normal ones. My 8 hens were born in late February. I just figured they were still learning how to lay. I feed them layer food suplimented with bugs, broccoli, and other things, trying not to give them too many goodies. I’ll start watching better now. Thanks for the information.

    • Those tiny eggs are sometimes called “wind” eggs. They’re often yolkless, and your first time layers sometimes lay them. I save the ones I find. If you leave them out, they’ll dry out and last forever. If you ever want to send an email, look at the bottom of the page. Click on the envelope and it’ll take you to email.

      • Our young bantams laid a couple like that. At first we were pretty sure that some non-chicken was sharing the nest box! Yes, we saved them, and it was interesting years later when they broke, revealing nothing inside but a papery white disk.

  6. I just love all the different shapes and sizes given us by our feathered ladies! I ordered the egg blower you recommended a couple of years ago, Terry. I now blow and keep all the little eggs plus of course my bue and green eggs. They look so pretty hung on a branch for Easter… Or just to remind us that Spring’s not so far away… ;-)

  7. I love the egg oddities, though I havent gotten an odd egg in a while… I have to say my favourite are from my Silkie they are just so petite she is a great little layer at the age of plus she lays regularly 3 to 4 a week that is when she isnt’t broody which seems more often than not… Just by typeing that she will probably go broody tomorrow. Actually if I even have a half thought of it she walks to the nesting box sits her self down and turns into Kujo… I will say it is funny to hear this little 3 pounds if that hen growl like a dog… Yes she growls… if she is broody and the other girls lay eggs in that nest which she will gladly accept, I have to out gardening gloves on to get them from under her, and then she will grab the glove in her beak and shake her head like a dog playing with a toy to prevent you from taking them from her…

  8. Is there somebody missing from the little barn? I do not see the beige/blonde colored chicken. She may be out of camera range. The cameras seem to have been moved a bit and do not show as much as they did. It is the same way in the big barn. That camera only shows one inside view that never changes.

  9. Pretty egg, cool to hear that you save your pretty eggs like. Think you might also start selling them as decorations in your online store ?
    PS I noticed today that Edwina and Twinkydink starting up at Candy’s hutch earlier too. I think they are missing her ladder in the day time. Did they ever use to sit on it ?

  10. How long after a moult will they lay? I am still waiting for the first egg since they stopped laying. The first to moult has been all fluffy and done with growing new feathers for weeks. Where are her eggs? I feel like I am waiting like i did for my first egg?