Just as I was about to blog about our strange eggs, I realized it was almost dark and I needed to go out and feed the pig. Good thing too! We just found our strangest egg yet!
But first, let's talk about my chickens. We have two sets: FFA meat show chickens and a much younger set that was hatched at the childcare center I work at. I got the FFA chickens first. There were 7 of them total. 6 hens and 1 rooster needed a home. My husband's mother's boyfriend's granddaughter (did you catch all that?) participated in FFA this year and had show chickens. She 'thinks' they are a Rhode Island White and Cornish Rock mix. She kept them in cages in the barn and they had never seen the outside before. Through several chicken experts I know, show chickens will never breed, never lay, can't walk well, and will die suddenly with a flurry of flapping and feathers flying. (We actually did have one die that way) I was not really wanting to butcher my own chickens, but being a homesteading/prepper/survivalist wanna be... I knew I needed to walk the walk and talk the talk! So my daughter and I Googled 'How to Butcher and Pluck a Chicken.' Several YouTube videos later and we were ready to try our hand at it. Did not go well the first time around, by the 3rd, I am nearly an expert. You can read about the first time we sent a chicken to 'Freezer Camp' HERE.
But I am also a wimp, and while I am proud of myself that I can do it, honestly I would just prefer not to! I was saved from sending anymore chickens to 'Freezer Camp' (for the moment) when our rooster 'Roo' decided to get a bit frisky with the last 2 remaining hens! Well, if Roo was trying to mate, then perhaps my FFA Meat Hens would lay? And they did! :) Well, at least one of them does and she does it quite well! The other however, not so well...
That mess is our first set of eggs! Thank goodness I was over checking out The Chicken Chick's webpage and decided to read her article on 'How a hen lays eggs and egg oddities.' Or else I might have panicked! We suspect they chickens had trampled on the eggs not realizing what they were. One was a solid normal egg in pieces. 2nd was almost a normal egg but had a soft crack to it and was in pieces. The third was a rubber egg! That is the only way to describe it.
Now let's talk about my strange laying chickens.. Mind you they are camera shy and getting good photos of them is rare. They either run away from the camera or think its food and they are too close for a good shot.
Now you cant tell from that photo, but 'Prissy' chicken (the one in the front) is pretty. She is a perfectly pretty, dainty, walks like a lady, sweet little hen. My husband actually witnessed her laying one day after a huge commotion drew him to the chicken coop. After it was all over, Prissy walked away from an egg. A perfectly pretty, dainty, sweet little egg.
The other one... exactly the opposite! She has a gimp leg, her feathers are not dainty or cute, she is not sweet. We call her 'HeShe' cause honestly... were not sure if she is actually a female. Is it possible to have a chicken with both characteristics? Her legs and feet are bigger than Roo's. Her comb and waddles are larger than a hens. Her face is a bit mean looking. She is not a pretty chickie! She has to be laying though, because the amount of eggs we are getting is too much for one little hen! We had 5 total eggs today. Can one chicken lay 5 eggs? And if they were all from Prissy, why would we only see her lay the pretty, perfect eggs?
Now before you say anything, yes, we added baked crushed egg shells and oyster shells into their diet. They also get layer pellets and free range for several hours in the day.
We still end up with some crazy eggs! Maybe HeShe is just not cut out for laying? I don't know. I am cheering her on, hoping she will get the hang of it one day! Although, I will miss getting amazingly crazy eggs like this one. (It was whole until Roo got overly excited about me coming into the coop with them after spying this on the ground.)
YES! It was 2 separate eggs that were attached!
Learn more about our FFA chickens and what we discovered about 'HeSHe' HERE.
Want to learn about EGG ODDITIES? Visit THE CHICKEN CHICK.
She also talks about fertilized eggs vs unfertilized eggs. I cant figure out if this one from a flat egg is fertilized. The tiny white spot is actually a bubble. What do you think?
Disclosure: I am in no way affiliated with The Chicken Chick nor am I paid to promote her site. I just enjoy her blog and find it tremendously useful on all things chicken! I am however, an Amazon Affiliate and may receive a small compensation. Buying through my links is not necessary, just appreciated. Amazon does not charge extra for linked items recommended by their affiliates. I only recommend products that I use and trust OR plan on using in the future. Please buy responsibly and do your own product research before buying anything online.
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