RIR lays an egg WITHIN an egg!

[babylady4]

My husband is looking at these pics saying 'OUCH'..... Like he knows what laying that would feel like!!!

Your poor chickie! I bet she make a huge racket when that sucker came out!!!

Totally cool pics too!

 

[sangel4you]

WOW! but OUCH! Thats awesome! but I wonder how it happens anatomically?!

 

[GrannaOnTheFarm]

I might add . . . the outer egg had no yolk, just a white. Also, when I picked it up it felt like a giant Mexican jumping bean. That should have been my first clue. To the person who said her husband wouldn't eat the 'egg-in-an-egg' that she got . . . mine wouldn't either, but the dogs loved it. The inside egg was an average ex-lg size and gorgeous. NOTE: For those asking if one chicken always lays one particular color/shade - apparently not! I used to think they did.

Granna

 

[Lolliegee]

Whoa, that is totally amazing! No one has responded to how it happens anatomically...Is there anyone out there who knows? I'd love to find out.

Oh and

...I'm sure you'll find this is a wonderfully, supportive forum, full of very friendly, helpful people.

 

[mrsgibber]

WHAT THE ?!?!?!?!?!?!

 

[Chicks_N_Horses]

Did you call Ripleys???? lol

That is a cool find!

 

[Namble]

I wonder what that felt like coming out! ooouchzzz

 

[friedegg]

That is so neat!! Thanks for sharing. My kids were intrigued.

 

[mechagrue]

Quote:
Think of a hen's reproductive system as being like an automatic car wash. When your car goes into the car wash, it gets pulled along through the following stages: soap, rinse, wax, dry.

A hen's system drops a follicle once a day from the ovary into the oviduct. The follicle moves down the oviduct and goes through the stages: yolk, egg white (albumen), membranes, shell.

What moves things along is peristalsis - muscle contractions, the same as what moves food down your throat and into your stomach. However, as you have probably noticed, sometimes peristalsis goes backwards. (Blurrrp!)

The same thing happens inside a hen. Occasionally the system kicks into reverse. If this happened in a car wash, your car would go: soap, rinse, wax, soap, rinse, dry. In the case of an egg-inside-an-egg, it gets all the way to the end, then reverses almost all the way back up: yolk, white, membranes, shell, white, membranes, shell.

For me, one of the joys of BYC has been finding out about all the fascinating things that can happen to eggs, and why. Having spent my entire life buying eggs from the store, I really had no idea!

 

[cherig22]

Outstanding explanation, mechagrue. Thank you.

Those two examples are way cool, thank you both for posting.

Cheri