Small Egg Question

[cochinGurl]

One of my hens laid a very small egg the other day, roughly one third the size of a normal pigeon egg. The other egg is normal sized. She is at least a few years old and has raised squabs before. She has access to oyster shell so i don't think she is deficient in calcium. Does any one had experience with small eggs like this? Has any one ever had one hatch?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

No experience with squabs but occasionally a chicken will lay an egg the size of an acorn. It never has a yolk, just albumen encased in a shell so won't hatch. Even if it did have a yolk I wouldn't try to hatch it since it's too small for good development. I'd open it to see if it has a yolk.
Fairly common with young birds. With an older bird it's an indication she was subject to some kind of shock. If it a bird that has been laying a lot, it can be a stressed reproductive tract.
Dietary calcium won't have any effect on that.
A shell will encase whatever comes into the shell gland whether it is the normal contents or not.

 

[aarontheman]

I had a hen that laid a tiny egg in spring it was really smaller than my other tumblers and racers i had( this was a tumbler usually smaller than racers) and the egg did hatch eggs sometimes do be small for no reason but sometimes it can be because of old age or it just lays small eggs

 

[sourland]

I have had very young hens lay small eggs - I generally discard these as in my experience they produce weak squabs. If she is a few years old, she has a lot of breeding years left. I would guess that it was just a glitch in the reproductive process - hopefully a one time thing.