Mystery Egg ?!?!

[LoveMyPeepers]

So I went to check the nesting boxes this morning and found this in it:

Yes, it's definitely an egg, I checked. We have some two month old chicks, but that's still way to young to lay and they haven't been in the coop yet. The rest of our hens are at least two years old, and even if one of the hens hasn't laid in a long time and just started up again, I don't think it would be that small. The egg is about one inch long and almost perfectly round, it's a bit greener than it looks in the picture, and none of our hens have laid that color egg before. We google searched it and the only thing that came up was a quail egg, but we don't own any other poultry other than chickens currently, and I've never seen quail around our house. Any ideas?

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi,

Albeit some wild bird getting in there to lay an egg, I'd bet that's what's called a "fairy egg."

When a couple of ours get done molting, it's like they're new layers again and I have seen fairy eggs like that one of yours from them on occassion. As for a different color, that is a bit strange although our eggs are all beige so a little darker or lighter I wouldn't notice as they're all a bit different tint.

I only get one, then the next one is a bit larger, and that keeps going for a few days until she's up to the normal size.

 

[McChooky]

Looks like a quail egg to me.Strange but I do have some hens that lay small eggs from time to time but none that I have at the moment lay colored eggs.That one looks speckled to me

 

[LoveMyPeepers]

Thanks guys, the egg is speckled, but most of our hens are backyard mixes, so we do get some speckled layers. I'll wait and see if the eggs get bigger or not.

 

[McChooky]

Thanks guys, the egg is speckled, but most of our hens are backyard mixes, so we do get some speckled layers. I'll wait and see if the eggs get bigger or not.

If your hens lay speckled green eggs the fairy egg belongs to one of your hens. Due to its size the intensity of the color may look different

 

[Ridgerunner]

it's a bit greener than it looks in the picture, and none of our hens have laid that color egg before.

Do any of your hens lay green eggs, even if they are a different shade? Basic color cannot change but the shade certainly can.

it's definitely an egg, I checked.

Does that mean you opened it? What did it look like inside? A tiny yolk with the right proportion of egg whites, all yolk, or all egg whites? It is possible for a hen that has been laying for a while to have a glitch and lay an egg like that. I'd suspect one of your regular layers before I'd suspect one that is not laying. The internal egg-making process is fairly complex. To me, the surprise is that so many get it right so much and that we don't see more glitches.