Oh no! Not another one!

Homecoming Presents for Farmer Nyel

There was a surprise in the north nest box last night and right in time for Nyel’s arrival home.  He’d been gone for three long weeks – hospitalized with a broken hip plus, as a result of inattentive caregivers at St. Vincent’s in Portland, a serious flare up of his CHF (congestive heart failure.)  If anyone needed a surprise from chickendom it was Farmer Nyel.

But… maybe not this one.  It was a “fairy egg” – a teeny-tiny, perfectly formed egg sitting right alongside two other normal-sized eggs which, by comparison, looked gigantic.  This is the second time in our eleven years of backyard chickens that we have been gifted with a fairy egg.  Sounds very special but… not really.  Here’s the scoop from an online source:

Teeny Tiny Bowl for a Teeny Tiny Egg

… also called “wind”, “witch”, “cock” or the fairly crass “fart” eggs, are merely a glitch in the laying process that is fairly common in backyard flocks. Smaller than regular eggs, usually rounder and containing no yolk, these eggs generally occur either very early in a hen’s productive life before her hormones and reproductive cycle are fully formed and working properly – or sometimes very late in a hen’s laying life as her hormone production is winding down. They can also be the result of stress or a disruption of routine.

Well, our hens should be (and have been for several months) at peak production. They are neither too young nor too old, but “just right” as Goldilocks would say.   Also, their routines have not been disrupted except by the absence of Farmer Nyel, and you wouldn’t think it would take three full weeks for that to sink in.  Besides, I had told the entire flock that he would be back yesterday.

No Yolk!

No.  I’m thinking that we have a couple of looney-tune hens.  One of them is still laying her egg outside under the coop each day.  And now, we have the fairy egg-layer.  Maybe she thought this would be a special homecoming treat for the missing Farmer.

In any case, Nyel dutifully opened it to see what it contained.  No yolk.  Just albumen and a dark spot that was unidentifiable.  I really think that the first fairy egg – the empty one – was better.  This one was just weird.  But, like the good chicken farmer that he is, Nyel was appreciative of the effort and expressed hope that her system would straighten itself out soon!  Meanwhile, he had one of the “normal” eggs – poached on toast – for breakfast!  Truly, there’s no place like home!

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