I have Rhode Island Reds and Barred Rock laying hens. One of my Reds has layed a wrinkled egg. The shell is hard, but egg is deformed (almost completely round) and has definite wrinkles in the shell on one side. This is the second egg I have seen with wrinkles in the last six weeks. There have only been two, and I do not know if the same hen layed both eggs. They free range and tend to use a single hay bale as a 'community'nest. Thanks!

Dian

-- Dian (bdp@accessunited.com), January 22, 2000

Answers

Dian, I get eggs like that now and then. Usually they're the regular shape but wrinkled. Haven't ever considered it a problem. Round eggs are rarer, I can't remember any of them being wrinkled. But it has been quite a while since there was a roundish one. Are your hens getting older? As a general rule, older hens lay fewer but larger eggs. And they can get BIG, won't even fit in an egg carton compartment. Even with nest boxes, it can be hard to know exactly who laid any one egg. Just because you see a hen in the nest with the egg, it doesn't mean she's the one who laid it. She may have been planning to lay her own egg, she may be vaguely broody, or she may be hungry. (Something to remember when you've got hens eating eggs, just because you catch a hen with yolk on her beak, it doesn't mean she's the one who broke the egg. If you can catch and dispose of the egg breaker, any egg eaters will frequently stop since they may like eating eggs but can't figure out how to make it happen. Also eggs do get broken, just because a hen is taking advantage of the situation, it doesn't mean she'll start breaking eggs on purpose.) With your community nest situation, it will be even harder to pinpoint the "culprit".

It will be interesting to see if anyone knows the real reason for the wrinkles. In an older hen, my best guess is simply that the longer time inside the hen forming, the more chances there are for something to adversely affect the soft egg shell. But I don't think there's a disease or parasite problem involved. I'd just live with it. Reds and Rocks are both nice chickens, I've had both over the years. Can get a little odd looking when they cross, but they still lay plenty of eggs. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), January 22, 2000.

Gerbil,

Thank you for the insight! I will not worry about it, if you don't think it is caused by parasites or disease.

The hens should not be very old. The people I bought them from said they were 99 hatch. Some of them seem to be just starting to lay, occasionally get a very small egg from a 'newbie'. :-)

I think my barred rocks are a mix, though. I occasionally get a greenish colored egg. And today I got one that had a slight blue cast to it. The reds give straight brown eggs, although the color of brown can differ. The rocks give light colored eggs, and they are usually just a beige color, but every once in a while I get a 'tinted' egg. Interesting!

Dian

-- Dian (bdp@accessunited.com), January 22, 2000.

Dian,

I've periodically gotten a wrinkled egg but it doesn't seem to be related to any problem.

Your barred rocks may be mixed with arucanas. I've read that the mix will often cause eggs to be colored. Arucanas lay bluish or pinkish eggs.

Sharon

-- Sharon in NM (kaori11801@aol.com), January 29, 2000.