Hen laying eggs with cracks embedded in them.

[JKRopee]

My 3 year old RIR has laid a couple of eggs that have cracks just under the shell, the shell itself seems solid and smooth. It just has these weird cracks all going the same direction. They almost look like the egg got to big to quickly while still in her body.
anyway, does anyone know what this is? I'm pretty new to backyard chickens and don't want to miss something important. . .

Thanks!

 

[nab58]

I had one that looked like that this week. I should have taken a picture of it. It was a very large egg.

 

[JKRopee]

This hen is a little older than the rest of the flock, and her eggs are larger, too. Any idea what's happening to cause this?

 

[nab58]

I don't know what causes it. I just considered it a fluke like other egg abnormalities. My hen is about 1 1/2 years old.

 

[sumi]

It sometimes happens that the egg shell crack while it is being formed and the hen's egg shell glad repairs the crack before the egg is laid. More info here:

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

 

[michael1003]

I think it looks kind of cool. Reminds me of marble

 

[JKRopee]

it is different but I read an article about it and they mentioned that she could be stressed or crowded in the coop. We added two new ladies to the flock (now at 7) a month or so ago, which could explain it. . . so, how does one 'de-stress' a hen. . . my girls are totally spoiled, they free range a 50x80 foot fenced, grassy area, draped with deer netting to keep predators out. The coop itself is easy access and (I thought) large enough for all of them. . . time to re-think things!

 

[aart]

There are obvious stresses; crowding, new additions to flock, predator encounters, etc, etc.

Then there are not so obvious(to us) stresses that you will not be able to identify or correct....sometimes trying to correct things you think are wrong can just bring on more stress. They are pretty sensitive to any kind of change in their schedule or environment.

Sometimes just watching and waiting is all you can do

 

[nab58]

Thank you so much for that link! Very informative. I've seen many of those eggs!