Part of the joy of owning backyard chickens is the horror. They do some pretty crazy shit these birds. Attack cats, try to eat each others faces, I even have one that's a hermaphrodite.
They're really a most interesting pet even without the egg laying talent. Speaking of eggs (see how I transitioned so smoothly there? It's part of what makes me such a talented writer. That and the way I can make up words but have you think they're actual words. Like pencil.)
When you have backyard chickens, or any chickens for that matter, you may happen upon a misshapen or odd looking egg. The benefit to being a backyard chicken is your owners don't generally chop your heads off for the offence. Usually.
I've had eggs with bumps, cracks and ridges come out of my hens. And last week Cheez Whiz laid this one on me.
That would be an egg with no shell. It has the membrane that surrounds the egg. But no shell. At all. Anywhere. This was day two for the egg so it's lost some of the air inside it making it sort of floppy. But just the day before the egg was smooth and tight just like a regular egg, but with no shell.
The above egg is one of Cheez Whiz's normal eggs. The chickens are just finishing up one of their moulting periods and sometimes it takes them an egg or two to get back into the swing of things. I noticed her eating copious amounts of oyster shell after she laid this egg with no shell so she knew she screwed up. Oyster shells gives hens the calcium they need to produce good, hard shells.
You can see just how translucent the egg's membrane is.
To give you a better idea of what the egg was like, take a look at this handy video I made.
Since this offence, Cheez Whiz has gone back to laying normal eggs. Which is a little more appealing, but a little less pencil.
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Karen
I just showed the video to my husband. I said, isn't this cool? He said, "yeah, ummmm" and shook his head. Guess I won't have to fix eggs this morning! Thanks for sharing this, Karen!
Ryn
Fascinating! I never knew a chicken could lay an egg without a shell. Love your blog by the way!
Karen
Thanks Ryn! ~ karen
Deb
'Looks like Cheese Whiz decided to take your advice to "try something new" this weekend! Seriously, I have had the exact same alien object fall out of my Verna Pearl's rear end (yes, VP is a hen!). I actually saw it happen, as this alien egg surprised her, apparently, and. Are it's appearance late one afternoon as the flock was headed in to roost. Poor VP suddenly squatted in the run and out dropped this totally shell-less egg! Perfect in every way, except jiggly and squishy. Gotta love chickens!
Ann
I have had almost all the egg oddities that can possibly occur. Except the egg within an egg. Stress is a typical reason they lay a shell-less egg. One of my easter eggers constantly lays an egg with all the tiny little "dots" of calcium on the shell. Sometimes all the little dots are in one spot, sometimes spread all over the egg.
People, get over your queasy. You do not even want to know things that happen in the commercial meat industry and yet many of you will be eating the burgers today.
Karen
Oh yes, this same chicken lays calcium dots as well. And like you say, sometimes all in the same spot, lol. ~ karen
Melody Madden
Think I will skip my usual hard boiled this a.m. ... Cool video though.
sue
It is a wonder that she was able to lay that without it breaking, just proves how tough the membrane is. Someone had a blog post about butchering their chickens and I never realized that the hens had eggs inside in different stages of development, like a little egg factory.
Good little Cheez Whiz, eating her oyster shells to fix that problem. Thanks for sharing.
TucsonPatty
That was so very cool. I love that you showed us with your fingers how it was wiggly and soft while rocking back and forth. It didn't gross me out - I'm surprised at all the weak stomachs. I've been eating freshly picked (I love calling them that) every morning, thanks to a co-worker with chickens. She has a rooster, and so sometimes I get fertilized eggs in my dozen.
It is all life - we drink milk from the mother cow's udder that was meant for baby cows, and no other animal does that. Some things we eat are strange, and I always thank the folks that first thought to cook an artichoke and when someone found out corn could pop. Three of my favorite things - eggs, popcorn and artichokes.
Great video! Thank you.
Janet
Well color me queasy......
Janelle
Pretty sure I just became a vegan.
Dagmar
If you had shown you the third picture alone, I would have guessed that it was a salt lamp. How unusual that the inside of that egg was a perfectly developed egg. Now I wonder, would an egg like that be considered edible? And what would happen if you tried to hard boil it? Do you think the shell would harden or dissolve? Enquiring minds want to know. Speaking of enquiring minds, what exactly do you mean by pencil? You lost me, I wonder whether I will be the only one. Having said that, I will now gracefully transition into the topic of making up words (see I can do it too- even if you are better at it)On Friday, I confused some of you by calling my fella my non-husband. So let me clarify that it is not a Canadian thing, but rather a Dagmar thing. The non-husband, non-wife terms we use for each other came about because we: #1 own property together and live together, but live financially independent of each-other #2 we are monogamous and have been together for over 13 years but have no intention of ever getting married #3 we come from very sad broken homes, and continue to watch our friends and relatives be happy until they wed, and then fail once they receive the piece of paper #4 We feel that we are more than boyfriend and girlfriend, but we are not common-law. So we just made up what was right for us; and hey if the egg isn't broken, you don't always have to make scrambled eggs.
Louise
Ok, this is weird, but now I'm hungry for some soft-boiled eggs!
Pati Gulat
My mom had chickens for years and this wasn't unusual....it wasn't OFTEN but it wasn't unusual....
Louise
When I was a kid, we had a bantam couple, along with some other chickens. I remember reaching under the bantam hen and having my hand come out all gooey from an egg she had laid without a shell. Yeeeech!
Jamieson
ick
Nancy Blue Moon
That is just..creepy.....
Zoe
Sitting here reading your posts at ungodly hours thanks to the recent arrival of a mini-me. I was a little unsure if I could stomach this post at scary hours of the night but desperation got the better of me and I know now something new for today !
Lauren from Winnipeg
I may never eat eggs again...
Fiona Verdouw
I think the question on everyone's lips is: Did you eat the egg?
Louise
Yup, that's what I was wondering. But after seeing how she mutilated it in the video, I bet she didn't. And without the shell, I'd wonder about how sanitary it was.
Karen
Nope. Definitely did not eat the egg. The shell is what protects it from bacteria and without it .... nope. Not gonna eat it. I did however cook it and feed it back to my chickens! ~ karen
Amber
Which one is the hermaphrodite, and how can you tell?
Karen
I'll do a post on the hermaphrodite and show everyone the how and whys. ~ karen!
Amber
I was telling a friend that I might want to raise a chicken or two... he had done this, and had a simple test for me. He asked "How do you feel about eating something that fell out of your pet?"
I still don't have chickens.