Wind egg?

[ermintrude]

Hi,
Our 2 year old Black Rock laid this today (see photo)! Is it a wind egg? If it is, I thought only young birds laid wind eggs. Does anyone know what would cause her to lay a wind egg at this stage in her life?
Thanks

 

[Marigold]

When you open it, you'll be able to see if it's a wind egg because it will have no yolk. It could possibly be just a very small egg. As your hen is a two-year -old hybrid, she may be approaching the time when her laying will become more spasmodic and uncoordinated, especially if she has been laying well for her first two years, this using up many of her egg cells. This little egg looks as if the shell quality is good, is that so? Elderly hybrids often start laying soft- shelled eggs, so if she's still going strong with good shels, I expect this is just an odd occurence and nothing to worry about.

 

[Tim]

Hi there,

A 'Wind Egg' or 'Cock Egg' as they have also been called doesn't have a yolk. Little eggs like this are usually full of white without a yolk. They are normally caused by something small coming down the ovary and getting wrapped in white and then a shell is formed around that.

It's nothing to worry about, we get the odd one here from time to time as well. Some of them can be really small!

You can read about egg problems here: http://poultrykeeper.com/egg-problems/