Acorn-sized small egg

[KoopOnTruckin]

I have a hen that was sold to me as a Dark Cornish, however she is much smaller than her counterpart, and doesn't have the same colors. However, she is a solid layer, and nice enough, so we kept her. She's peculiar in some ways, like the way she crawls through a tunnel to get to my rabbit's hutch (the rabbits are free in the coop with the chickens) to lay her eggs. I figured this out a few months ago when she first started laying, so it's just part of my routine when grabbing eggs throughout the day.

Well today I cleaned out the rabbit hutch like I do every few weeks, and I found this tiny little egg (next to her normal-sized egg):


She is a solid layer, I was gone for the past 7 days and when I got back, 7 eggs in the hutch + this super small, tiny egg. I'm not sure what happened, but it's definitely interesting!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It's called a wind egg. Usually no yolk, just albumen.

 

[aart]

Oooeeeebaby, that is a tiny one!
Great pic!

Open er up and see what's inside.
Might be a tiny immature yolk, or an almost invisible piece of tissue tha make it's way down the pipe and spurs the system to complete an egg around it.
Thinks it's mentioned in this video:Egg Formation Video

 

[KoopOnTruckin]

Ok, i opened it up - well, more smashed it. It was just so small, i tried with a butter knife but it just flattened it. There was a yolk, and it was perfectly proportioned with the white. Regular thickness of the shell and membrane, hence the complete destruction. I would have taken another pic but the kid grabbed it when i went to wash my hand. Not much to see anyway, but would have made a very tiny omelette.

So what causes a wind egg?

 

[wheels74]

I occasionally get eggs that small. I sell eggs and customers with kids get a free carton of small eggs. Kids love little ones like that!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Sometimes it is from a piece of tissue sloughed off like aart said which kickstarts the albumen, membrane and shell process. Sometimes it is late in a lay cycle when a hen needs a break from laying.

 

[aart]

Ok, i opened it up - well, more smashed it. It was just so small, i tried with a butter knife but it just flattened it. There was a yolk, and it was perfectly proportioned with the white. Regular thickness of the shell and membrane, hence the complete destruction. I would have taken another pic but the kid grabbed it when i went to wash my hand. Not much to see anyway, but would have made a very tiny omelette.

So what causes a wind egg?

Oooeeeebaby, that is a tiny one!
Great pic!

Open er up and see what's inside.
Might be a tiny immature yolk, or an almost invisible piece of tissue tha make it's way down the pipe and spurs the system to complete an egg around it.
Thinks it's mentioned in this video:Egg Formation Video