Tuesday, August 17, 2010

What's a "Fairy Egg?"

Every once in awhile, we get a "fairy egg" from our chicken coop. What's a fairy egg? It's an egg that's about a third of the size of a regular egg. We've been getting about one or two a week since the weather heated up, and while they're adorable, they kind of freak Leo out so he won't eat them. 

From what I've read, fairy eggs occur when a little reproductive tissue breaks away inside the hen. The body thinks it's an egg and treats it as such, crafting a shell around it and sending it out as an egg. Fairy eggs (or witch eggs, as they're also called) have no yolk, only a white, and are edible, but as I mentioned, not by my hubby. 

I do worry a bit about which of our hens is having trouble, if it's just happening to just one of them, (maybe it's happening to all seven of them once in awhile, but just seems like it's happening more because we get the fairy eggs so often). Since none of our hens shows any signs of feeling less than perfectly grand, though, I think it's okay. The fairy eggs are really small, and to be honest, I just think they're kind of sweet.


1 comment:

  1. My little hen had a pullet egg. Tiny like the fairy egg but with egg yolk too. I wasn't sure how many I would get so instead of cracking it I poked holes in the ends and blew out the middles so I could keep the sweet little egg and still have breakfast (with other eggs of course)!

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