Artistic Hen

[olfart]

We have a hen who occasionally creates a work of art. I have no idea how or why she does it, but this is the second egg of this nature she's laid. There have been a few other eggs with a few wrinkles, but only one other with this degree of texture.

Any ideas on what causes this?

 

[Kelsie2290]

Looks like what they call a corrugated shell or body checked egg
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/1/egg-quality-handbook/18/misshapen-eggs
http://www.alltech.com/sites/default/files/alltech-egg-shell-quality-poster.pdf
Poster from Alltech (Corrugated Eggs on the left middle row) and The Poultry Sites page for those.
It says they are from damage to the egg while in the shell gland from various causes, or an inability to control plumping, the step in making an egg, when it goes into the shell gland, the egg spends a couple of hours absorbing water and salt through the membranes, before the shell starts to form.
I get them occasionally, especially from old commercial White Leghorns.

 

[olfart]

Thanks for the info! We only get one of these occasionally, and probably from the same hen. We have Rhode Island Reds and Barred Rocks in the same pen, no way to tell which one is doing what since they all seem to want to use the same nest box.