Freaky first egg and other new eggy issues!

[PouleChick]

2 days ago I got the first egg from one of my girls (22 weeks) and it was a little odd - patchy colour and as small as my silkies eggs then egg 2 was a whopping 68g yesterday. Here is is with my silkie eggs

Today there was a broken and eaten egg so I'm devastated - I'm going to do lots of reading and will come back with any questions about this (of course all help welcome as want to nip it in the bud - I'm thinking I may need to go and sit in the run each morning ).

There was also a weird egg - I'm thinking on of my other girls went in, kicked out the egg that had been laid and laid her first egg. It sure was wierd!
Perfect on one side other than a small lumpy bit on the shell:

The ends, one coloured and one crinkled!:

And the freaky alien crater

Normal first egg freakyness or something to be concerned about?

 

[Abriana]

When hens are just getting used to laying, eggs can be all sorts of strange. Wrinkled, full of craters, long, fat, round, super teeny, etc. nothing to be concerned about! They are still edible, tho others might not want them.
As for egg eating, there are many methods to try. Put mustard or dish soap with a little food coloring in it (preferably all natural) to catch the culprit and maybe stopping them as well. Another thing you can do, is put wooden or ceramic eggs or golf balls in the nest box. When they peck at them, they will get discouraged and a bit of a sore beak. There are other methods online you can try!
Good luck!

 

[PouleChick]

When hens are just getting used to laying, eggs can be all sorts of strange. Wrinkled, full of craters, long, fat, round, super teeny, etc. nothing to be concerned about! They are still edible, tho others might not want them.

Thanks for your reply @Abriana That's what I'd read so wasn't too bothered but the crater makes me think perhaps not good to eat! I'll wait and see until I open it but will probably cook it for them.

Put mustard or dish soap with a little food coloring in it (preferably all natural) to catch the culprit and maybe stopping them as well. Another thing you can do, is put wooden or ceramic eggs or golf balls in the nest box.

I'm guessing by mustard a nice spicy Dijon would do the trick? They already have 2 ceramic eggs in there and I can see they have been playing with them. I think once their coop is sorted otu better things will be easier to manage, the weather then the flu then the weather has held us up by weeks getting them in their proper coop with more space and proper egg laying nests. But they are only 3 so I thought 1 box should be OK for 3 of them.

 

[aart]

I'm guessing by mustard a nice spicy Dijon would do the trick?

Actually birds don't have 'heat' receptors...so a mustard filled egg may just make a mess and not deter the egg eaters at all.

Could just be start up glitches...and newly laying pullets are pretty rowdy.
Thin shelled egg can break easily and are thus an easy and fair game target for eating.
Just try to gather frequently to remove opportunities.
Things should smooth out within a week or so.

 

[PouleChick]

Actually birds don't have 'heat' receptors...so a mustard filled egg may just make a mess and not deter the egg eaters at all.

Could just be start up glitches...and newly laying pullets are pretty rowdy.
Thin shelled egg can break easily and are thus an easy and fair game target for eating.
Just try to gather frequently to remove opportunities.
Things should smooth out within a week or so.

Thanks aart - I have been going down every 30-45 minutes all morning and got an egg around lunch time that they totally weren't bothered about - it was quite safely left in the nest. Yes the eaten egg did seem quite thin shelled so I think you may well be right and just an opportunity eating rather than a crazed egg eating flock - bless them it must be a bit confusing suddenly having an egg come out of your bum or your friends bum I'll keep up the vigilance for a few days more to make sure it was a one off. And I shall keep my Dijon mustard for my steak then for the moment