What's up with this egg?

[brshooter]

We have one of our hens that started laying wrinkled eggs and they are sometimes a bit non-symetrical. Started when she resumed laying this spring. I haven't singled out the offending hen yet. We get several a week from her. They look fine inside although we usually feed these to our dog. We feed a 16% layer pellets. They get grit and oyster shell regularly. They free range in a 20 x 65 run and also have access to our entire backyard until the garden is fully planted. Any ideas?

 

[chicklover 1998]

you can eat them the shell is just deformed, it is called a body check it is where the offending hen gets bumped around while the egg is in the oviduct it gets "healed" before it comes out.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

you can eat them the shell is just deformed, it is called a body check it is where the offending hen gets bumped around while the egg is in the oviduct it gets "healed" before it comes out.

This is not a body check -- this is what is often referred to as "corrugated" - it's a matter of the membrane beneath the shell causing uneven/"wrinkled" shell deposit. There are a few possible causes -- Extra large egg size/often double or multi yolk eggs, Newcastle disease, excessive use of antibiotics, copper deficiency in the hen's diet, excess calcium consumption, defective shell gland and recovery from IB among them.

 

[chicklover 1998]

it looked like it was cracked vs. the membrane being wavy. But you are right now that I look more closely it does look wavy.

 

[Clousic Chicks]

We had the exact same issue - looks like it hurts! It was not every egg she laid so I did some research ---that indicated that it could be too much calcium. I did increase their overall protein and we haven't had an issue since. I would really like to know what this means. We have one hen (Buff Orpington) who has always had a floppy comb so we assumed it was her....we have it down to her or our White Plymouth Rock.