Egg-strodinary!!

Over the last month we have gottne some unusual eggs around here and I thought I would talk about them and what I have learned (or think I have learned... LOL). 

Before I get started I want to talk about the latest change I have made because I know you are likely to notice in the picture and wonder.  I have started dating my eggs with a "grease pencil" with the month/date to make sure I do not get the eggs mixed up and use up the fresher eggs first.  You could use a common crayon and if you do I would use a brand like Crayola that is American made and states that it is "non-toxic".  If you notice on the egg below I also made a question mark because I was not sure what we had here.  It was too early to be getting duck eggs, but this egg was quite a bit larger than the others.  My guess was:

A DOUBLE YOKER !!!

 ~~Sierra modeling the eggs~~

 ~~And this is a stovetop comparison because I think you can tell more about the size this way.~~

~~And YES, my guess was right.  We had a DOUBLE YOKER!~~

What I learned:  That there is really no certainty about why some hens will lay a double yoker.  For some reason as the egg is develop in the hen two eggs come down at the same time and get encased within one egg.  I am not worried about this except that if it continues I would be concerned that it might be exhaustive to the hen and harder for her to lay.  But hey!... twins are born everyday, right!?

 ~~This one is an EGG WITHOUT A SHELL.~~

What I have learned:  Well, there is a lot of information about this and some people think this is a deficiency in the hen, such as, lack of calcium or other issue.  I read beyond that and found information that said that it is not likely to be a health issue, but rather that the hen could have been traumatized during the process of the egg development.  Look at those sweet children at the very top of my blog.  I bet you wouldn't guess they would EVER traumatize a chicken.  LOL!  Oh yes, I am certain that any such defect in an egg is more likely to be a traumatized hen than any other possibility.  They are not supposed to chase the chickens, but they do and catch them and love on the and throw them in the air to see them fly (all when they don't think anyone is watching, of course).  Fortunately, they mostly listen and don't do these things, except when they get caught up in a moment of excitement and forget the rules. 

No Pic because you could not tell by looking and the only other thing is to include a pic of a cracked egg on the ground.  :)

~~The last thing I will talk about is THIN SHELLED EGGS....~~

What I have learned:  These eggs are so thin that they crazk in your hands when you try to pick them up.  I have a few of these, but still nothing excessive.  Thin shelled eggs are a calcium deficiency.  The cure is to provide more calcium for the chickens.  This can be done several ways, but the one that seems easiest is to provide the chickens with a dish of Oyster Shell.  I think you could save money by allowing your empty egg shells to dry out and crush them to tiny bits for the hens.  Also, it is wise to make sure you are providing your hens with enough protein (use Laying Pellets, etc.).

 Before I close I also want to state that I track my egg counts on my calendar.  From this I can tell if our production changes... or if I need to go an egg hunt.  In general we get one egg per chicken a day.  Sometimes on or two of them do not lay an egg.  When we are short more than two for more than one day I know that I need to search for a hidden nest.  Recently, we have moved our chickens and ducks around a lot and I am getting very inconsistent egg counts.  At first the hens were hiding their eggs.  Now they are in their coop/run more and this trains them to lay in their nest.  Still our egg counts are down and I think it is due to the trauma of the moving. 

That's all for now!