Egg Anomalies

Reader Contribution by Anna Twitto
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Grocery stores only carry smooth uniform eggs most of the time, so this is what customers see, but backyard flock owners get to discover all kinds of curiosities in the laying box – eggs of unusual shape, size and texture. These glitches in the chicken reproductive system are especially common in young pullets and older hens and are usually benign. Let’s get into some specifics of the surprises your chickens may leave for you:

Tiny eggs – these ‘oopsie eggs’ are just a fraction of a size of a full-grown egg and normally contain no yolks. Usually they only turn up once in a while and are nothing to worry about, despite the various superstitions surrounding them in folklore (they are also known as “witch eggs”).

Shell-less eggs – weak shells or soft eggs that feel almost as if they are made of rubber can be an indicator of not enough calcium in your chickens’ diet. We don’t often see those, as the land and water in our area are very mineral-rich, but they do turn up once in a while. Adding crushed eggshells to the chicken feed is helpful in replenishing calcium stores.

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