Elongated egg

[holly_wyatt]

One of our lovely hens laid a massively elongated egg tonight and I wondered if anyone had any thoughts as to why? She seems perfectly happy and healthy so just curious really

 

[cleoandtheflock]

Here are some possibilities of why she has an egg that is like that

- Immature shell gland (young layers)

- Defective shell glands

- Disease such as infectious bronchitis

- Stress, frights, or disturbances

- Overcrowding in coop and/or run

 

[Shadrach]

One of our lovely hens laid a massively elongated egg tonight and I wondered if anyone had any thoughts as to why? She seems perfectly happy and healthy so just curious really

A bit like the one below.
I've had a few of these from older hens (8 and 9 years old) whose laying cycle is switching off.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/common-egg-quality-problems.65923/

 

[dalasgalas]

That's a giant egg.

 

[aart]

One of our lovely hens laid a massively elongated egg tonight and I wondered if anyone had any thoughts as to why? She seems perfectly happy and healthy so just curious really

Has it happened more than once?
Are there 2 yolks in there?
Chances are it's just a one off glitch and nothing to worry about.

Tho I have had a couple birds that consistently laid 'torpedo eggs'.
They are fine to eat, but lousy for hatching.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I agree with Aart. Crack it and see how many yolks are in it. Occasionally a hen messes up and releases more than one yolk in a day. If they are released at the same time you can get a two or three yolked egg. If they are released apart a hen can lay two eggs in the same day, though the second one might be a bit weird. This seems to happen more with pullets just starting to lay or old hens, but any hen can do it any time. There are other ways eggs can be weird, this is one of the more common.

If it is not an everyday thing, well everyone is entitled to an occasional oops. If it is pullet just starting to lay they often grow out of it in a couple of weeks. If it is a regular event for a mature hen then she has a glitch in her internal egg making factory.