[digga666]

I ran out of feed for about a week recently and gave them just mixed corn and dug up lots of worms.  But after a few days they all stopped laying which could have been food or weather or both.

Now they are laying again almost all of them i think but yesterday i got a huge egg which was perfect and at least twice the size as a normal egg, you would think it was a turkey egg it is so big.

The hens are rhode islands and light sussex and they are almost 12 months old.   Is this ok or something to watch out for?

[ANHBUC]

They probably stopped laying as they didn't have the right nutrients to produce the egg and shell. 

The large egg is something you can't control and it is possibly a double yolker.  It is not good for the hen but it could be due to breeding for more eggs.  It is usually in young hens when they start laying and they tend to grow out of it.  Keep an eye out for prolapse though as it can be caused when they lay over big eggs.

[8doubles]

Don`t know if you saw this at Easter,

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/easter-eggs-live/4od#3499810

one unusual giant egg at around  24 mins !

[digga666]

Thanks.

I just measured the egg and it is 3" long by very close to 2" diametre.   There is one hen who lays a larger egg than the others but never this big and i am sure it wasnt her because she lays in the morning and this came late afternoon in a different nest box.

[tosca100]

We had one last year.
http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=95547.msg1061963#msg1061963

The hen in question was always a bit of a dodgy layer and eventually gave up all together. However, after I re-homed her (moving abroad) the new owner says she started laying again. She would have been nearly a year old when she went.

[digga666]

How do you mean went?  Did she die at 12 months?  If she did why?

[ANHBUC]

How do you mean went?  Did she die at 12 months?  If she did why?

Tosca rehomed the hens.   

[tosca100]

How do you mean went?  Did she die at 12 months?  If she did why?

She's fine and happy in her new home with the other two and some ex-bats. She just had a blip that's all.

I wish I could have taken them with me, don't half miss them still.

[digga666]

After the monster egg the other day i now have today 16 eggs from 16 hens mostly ok and normal except  today i had a tiny egg about 1.25" in diameter maybe from the same hen?

I suppose things just even themselves out in the end?

[joyfull]

that sounds like a wind egg - usually these just have mainly white with just a little spot of yolk or no yolk at all.

[digga666]

What does a "wind egg" mean?

[tosca100]

Tis a tiny egg, usually with just white inside, no yolk. Had one of those too, but can't remember who laid it, I think it was Florrie. Don't worry, it happens.

[joyfull]

it has several names - wind, fart, witches etc.
They are simply a little glitch in their laying system and can be also called a practise egg - nothing to worry about.

[ANHBUC]

Some pictures on here of wind/fart eggs.

www.poultryhelp.com/oddeggs.html

[digga666]

Hey listen great help..............thanks to you all.