These are cute, but why do they happen?

[Lydia Huizenga]

Today I walked out to my chicken run to give my babies a watermelon treat. On the ground I saw a tiny little egg. A fairy egg as I've heard. I will include a picture, but I have a question. Why do chickens lay fairy eggs?

The egg is smaller in real life.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

How old are your birds?
Sometimes pullet eggs are pretty tiny.
If it is a fairy egg, it has no yolk inside, only albumen.
It happens when there is no ovulation, just a bit of tissue sloughs off and is detected as a yolk by the isthmus and magnum where membranes and albumen are added. That mass reaches the uterus and calcium carbonate is added forming a shell

 

[Lydia Huizenga]

How old are your birds?
Sometimes pullet eggs are pretty tiny.
If it is a fairy egg, it has no yolk inside, only albumen.
It happens when there is no ovulation, just a bit of tissue sloughs off and is detected as a yolk by the isthmus and magnum where membranes and albumen are added. That mass reaches the uterus and calcium carbonate is added forming a shell

Thanks so much! I always like learning new things. My adult chickens are about 10 months old and started laying the middle of March. This is the first fairy egg I have gotten yet.