Why is this egg little?

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marin chicks

marin chicks

In the Brooder
Aug 20, 2015
15
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San Anselmo CA
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My girls are 18 months old and lay consistently 4-6 eggs a day. I have six hens. Yesterday my Plymouth Rock laid a mini egg. Any ideas on what happened? Thanks
 
I also have Plymouth Rocks and yesterday got an egg the size of a Brussel Sprout in the nest! Have had them for 10 months. They also sometimes drop an egg from their nesting perch. The interesting thing is that these eggs never have a hard shell. What makes the shell harden?
 
Karen -Johan said:
I also have Plymouth Rocks and yesterday got an egg the size of a Brussel Sprout in the nest! Have had them for 10 months. They also sometimes drop an egg from their nesting perch. The interesting thing is that these eggs never have a hard shell. What makes the shell harden?
Click to expand...

Karen, I'm thinking that your chickens are lacking in calcium. They need the calcium for the shells to harden. Try giving them oyster shell for a calcium source, or you can feed them egg shells. Either way they need the calcium.
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Pendragonz said:
Quote: @Karen -Johan ...Welcome to BYC!

Might be a lack of calcium.....
....or if they are about 18 months old (give or take a couple months), they could be getting ready to molt.
You can get some funky eggs as production winds down before a molt and also as they start up laying again after a molt.
There are other reason for 'soft shelled' eggs...but more info would be needed.
Click to expand...
 
Thank you so much. I crush all my egg shells and add it to their food. The eggs that get laid in the nest are perfect. It is only the ones that they lay when they are on the perch which is when they roost for the night!! I find them on the floor next morning! I was wondering if it would be a good idea to ask our butcher for " saw dust" from when they cut the meat. Don't know the correct terminology but that would consist of bone marrow, bone & maybe a bit of meat. Don't know if the marrow would be too fatty?
 
Karen -Johan said:
Thank you so much. I crush all my egg shells and add it to their food. The eggs that get laid in the nest are perfect. It is only the ones that they lay when they are on the perch which is when they roost for the night!! I find them on the floor next morning! I was wondering if it would be a good idea to ask our butcher for " saw dust" from when they cut the meat. Don't know the correct terminology but that would consist of bone marrow, bone & maybe a bit of meat. Don't know if the marrow would be too fatty?
Click to expand...
We really should start a new thread for this discussion instead of hijacking the OP's thread....but....

There can be funky eggs once in awhile that are just caused by a glitch in the system.
Soft eggs are often laid in odd places because their body has a harder time controlling the movement,
probably feels more like a poop than an egg so they drop it wherever.
Unless you are getting those all the time....I would not worry about it.

Calcium might the the problem...but bone/marrow is not the way to provide calcium.
Eggshells can work but they go thru the body too fast for much to be absorbed,
oyster shell is better as it stays in the system longer and more is absorbed.
How old are your birds?
How often does this happen?
What and how exactly are you feeding?
 
Thanks all for your input. Sorry I hijacked another OP. Don't often drop eggs - I was just curious to know. Have only had my hens for 10 months. They free range all day and have a continuous feeder with a chicken mix from our local Co-Op plus scraps.
 

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