My few chickens that are still alive have not been reliable layers. The Dominique chickens don’t lay much during the shorter daylight periods of winter. We could put a light on them but there are just two of them and during the summer, each chicken lays maybe 3 eggs per week so it isn’t worth the cost of electricity and I’ve always figured that chickens who stop laying during winter need a little break and that’s Mother Nature’s way of giving it to them.
Of the three red hens that were left, one was injured pretty badly and has just now started sleeping on the roost. I’m not sure if she wasn’t able to get on it because of an injury or if for some reason, she felt safer in the nesting boxes but just last night, I noticed she was back up on the roost. The red chickens typically lay an egg just about every day, even during the winter. But, since the dog incident, I’ve been lucky to get 1 egg per day out of that coop.
Yesterday when I looked in the egg boxes, I was so excited to see two eggs . . til I noticed one was really weird.
Eggs
It is a hard shell but just strange! Every now and then, maybe 3 times in about 4 years of having chickens, we’ve gotten what we call a “rubber” egg. The shell is soft and it’s gross . . especially when it looks normal and you grab it and it’s soft and squishy. Yuck! But, this egg is hard but has all kinds of markings and dimples on it. I wonder if it came from the hen that was injured.
I asked . . who did this? Who does this egg belong to? And no one said a word . . they just looked at me!
Frankie says
Awww. Poor chicks! Raising chickens surely is an experience. They’re such funny creatures. When I get a weird egg, I always wonder what happened. And then I’m ever so thankful I’m not a chicken . . . laying an egg a day would be the worst thing!! So glad to hear that your hen is recovering.
Sue K says
no one is willing to fess up to doing the “funky chicken” dance 🙂
Carolyn says
OH I bet that hurt coming out!
Sherrill says
I wouldn’t fess up either if I laid that!! LOL
Rose says
I’m not a bird person in any sense, but I’m so happy that those chickies recovering are doing their best to get ‘back to normal” … I just hope the wierd egg isn’t their new definition of normal 😉
Helen Koenig1 says
Ouch!
Actually I had a chicken with eggs like that once – every so often she would lay an egg that was more cubical or WIERD looking than otherwise – I was told various things – that it was from some injury or other, or that something had interrupted her when she was “thinking” about laying an egg and by the time she got back to it, it was wierd shaped. I rather imagine the first explanation may be more likely – but the second sure is an interesting thought!
Helen (who does NOT like YAHOOphooey!)
Brandy M. says
So strange, but I’m also glad that they’re laying. It’s surely a sign of recovery! I’m glad they have such a wonderful chicken Mama to take good care of them. {{Judy}}
🙂
Linda says
Wow. It’s kind of sad, almost like the result of a chicken nightmare or something. I can’t wait till your flock is back up and you are telling us about the new characters. Maybe the older chickens will be happier then.
Susan says
I’ll be interested to know if any others show up like that. I wonder if there’s something about the trauma that caused the strange egg production – hormones that had to repair themselves, or something that happened simply because the chicken who laid it was traumatized. Life is always interesting!
Cilla says
Perhaps add calcium to their diet.
Charlotte says
I’ve gathered a few eggs like that and my hens were not traumatized. Sometimes it just happens. Your hen story was what I figured out. When you live in a rural area, there is always a chance of varmints getting your animals. But it is extremely distressing when it is domesticated animals. Hence the old saying, “one dog- good dog, two dogs-you have half a dog, three dogs- no dog at all.” I just hope they don’t come back.