A guest post from my daughter Claire:
Have you ever heard of a wrinkled egg? An egg with 2 yolks? A gray egg with bumps all over? Well, neither had I until our chickens started laying.
Esmerelda, Chrysanthemum, Buttercup, and Marigold
On the first day of laying, my mom came out to me saying, “Claire! We’ve got our first egg!” And when I looked I saw a tiny, brown sphere with white specks all over it. Small, but beautiful. The white dots add character. After about a week, I went out to check for an egg. As I picked it up, I noticed something was different. The egg was lumpy. I took a look at it. Who would have thought that of all the things that could have happened, we got a wrinkled egg!!
So far the chickens have laid two wrinkled eggs!!
Several days later, I went out and found a normal sized egg. Until then all of the eggs they had been laying had been rather small (and cute!).
“Mommy, we’ve got a normal sized one for once!” I said, walking through the door. We cracked it open and two yellow blobs/yolks plopped out!
A double yolker!!
And, lastly, one day I came home from school and my mom showed me the wackiest looking egg. I honestly don’t know how our innocent little chickens came to produce such a thing! It was an ugly shade of gray, and it had little bumps all over. If it made a chick, the chick would look something like the ugly duckling. These eggs are tough luck!
P.S. Please don’t be worried. We’ve also been getting beautiful, smooth, brown eggs almost every day.
Andrew // Oct 8, 2009 at 10:19 PM
Hi Claire – thanks for your post! We’ve gotten a wrinkled one also, and a bumpy one of normal color. But the weirdest egg I’ve heard of I saw on YouTube, posted by a friend of a friend: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wubgAIiWpY
Claire // Oct 9, 2009 at 8:02 AM
Hi Andrew! That big egg was amazing! I hope our chickens lay one like that!
Nici // Oct 9, 2009 at 4:17 AM
Loved reading about the wide variety of eggs you are finding! And I think your chickens are just adorable!
Denise // Oct 9, 2009 at 6:16 AM
yes, at first our eggs were all a bit strange. Now, the eggs are getting bigger. They are always yummier than any store bought egg that is for sure!!
freya carter // Oct 9, 2009 at 6:49 AM
DearClaire,
Someday you might enjoy trying auracauna chickens. They regularly lay green eggs, though some have been closer to blue.
Claire // Oct 9, 2009 at 8:00 AM
Thanks for commenting! Actually, before we moved to this house, we had 2 auracaunas! They weren’t the friendliest chickens ever though. But their eggs were just beautiful! They were a very pretty color!
lyanda // Oct 9, 2009 at 7:19 AM
Claire, thanks so much for writing such a wonderful post! I’m going to have you do this more often. And thanks for being such a great chicken farmer.
Claire // Oct 9, 2009 at 3:23 PM
You’re very welcome! I’ll do this whenever you want! I love you!xoxo, *Claire*
bikedate // Oct 9, 2009 at 9:54 AM
Hey Claire – Now this is a subject I know very little about – thanks for the info! My only experience was cleaning out the coop at my relatives big ranch when I was a kid. I would poke the old eggs that had fallen through the chicken wire floor with the handle of my rake – they stink to high heaven! Got in trouble for that… they told me to get back to work…
Claire // Oct 9, 2009 at 3:21 PM
Wow! Nice story. I like the phrase “they stink to high heaven!”
Well, I can tell you that wrinkled eggs are honestly weird looking!
P.S. I like your blog!
kate // Oct 9, 2009 at 11:49 AM
I’m left wondering if the funny looking eggs or the double yolkers taste any different from the regular smooth, brown eggs. Do tell!! ~Kate
Claire // Oct 9, 2009 at 12:09 PM
Good Question! Actually, me and my dad had the double yolker for dinner last night as scrambled eggs. It was just as good as normal eggs, or if anything, better!!!!
Birdsong // Oct 9, 2009 at 12:57 PM
I have never seen a wrinkled egg before… though we have kept chickens off and on for several years. I have seen a double yolk. I thought it strange that the eggs started out very light from this year’s pullets, and small like yours, but then got both bigger and darker!
Clare // Oct 9, 2009 at 1:17 PM
Hey Claire! Nice writing — I asked your dad how old you were, and if you got some editing help, and he said, 10, and nope! I hope my daughter writes her own blog posts when she’s 10!!
David // Oct 9, 2009 at 1:37 PM
Is one of your chickens more likely to lay one of the special eggs, or do they all contribute to this glorious diversity equally? (My bet would be on Marigold, but that’s just because she reminds me of someone in my extended family.)
Claire // Oct 9, 2009 at 3:16 PM
Hmmm… well, actually it couldn’t have been Marigold or Buttercup because they aren’t laying yet. My guess is that both of the laying chickens make an equal amount of wacky eggs. But you can never be too sure…
Kathi D // Oct 9, 2009 at 9:59 PM
I miss our double-yolk eggs. The hens are most likely to lay double-yolk eggs in their first year of laying, because their cycles haven’t sorted out yet. We had quite a few last year, but none since the hens have been in their second year of laying.
KT // Oct 11, 2009 at 6:53 AM
Hi Claire,
Alex, John and I wish we could come over for breakfast! Please let us know when your lovely chickens lay a green egg!!
KT
Jennifer // Oct 11, 2009 at 5:27 PM
Hi Claire,
Our chickens have laid most of the types of eggs that you describe, though maybe not quite as wrinkled as the ones you show. The best and most interesting (and grossest) eggs that we have gotten have no shells at all. There is just a membrane holding the white and yolk. They are the right shape, but are completely soft and translucent. It is a real shock to reach into a nesting box and get one of these. We immediately give them oyster shells when it happens!
I’ll try to send you a picture if we ever get one again.
Jennifer
richard // Nov 18, 2009 at 6:37 PM
yea i just got my first wrinkled egg today… it was shelless. it was really wierd and felt leathery. I have aracaunas and i have gotten 3 double yolkers so far.. Its always a good surprise!