Small, yolk-less eggs for two to three weeks now

[jonalisa]

One of my chickens - I suspect my Silver Cuckoo Marans - is consistently laying yolk-less eggs the size of a Robin's egg.
She will be a year old in May. She did lay regular size eggs until recently, although they were never the dark brown I thought they would be. These small eggs are darker than all the others, so I assume it is her.
Is this a health issue? Thoughts?

Thanks,
jonalisa

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

They are considered a normal occurrence. It's though a piece of oviduct breaking off will start the process of making one, most contain no yolk. They usually occur when the egg factory is firing up or shutting down. If your hen is consistently laying them than perhaps she hasn't worked out all the glitches, or something is disturbing her. Stress can cause them too, things like feed changes or new flock mates.

 

[aart]

Is there anything inside other than albumen?

 

[jonalisa]

A few I've taken notice of have a small piece of yellow tissue. I wasn't really looking closely until I read about that.

 

[jonalisa]

I get about a weeks' worth of little eggs, then suddenly a full size then back to the little ones.

 

[aart]

A few I've taken notice of have a small piece of yellow tissue. I wasn't really looking closely until I read about that.

That supports OHLD's theory......a piece of tissue can break loose and it gets encased like a yolk would.
It could be a health issue, but not necessarily detrimental to the hen....but worthy of closer observation to see if and how it continues.