10 Abnormal Chicken Eggs & What You Need To Know!

Here’s common abnormal eggs your chicken might lay, and what they mean. 

1. Soft Shell / No Shell Eggs

It can be unnerving (and kind of cool) the first time you see chicken eggs without their shell. The eggs can be missing the whole shell or just part of it, but the membrane is still intact. 

Adding the shell is one of the last steps a chicken takes to produce eggs, and sometimes, for a variety of reasons, that step is skipped.

In pullets, soft shell eggs sometimes happen with her first egg – the pullet’s system just hasn’t kick started correctly, but it will soon catch up.

Sometimes the cause is insufficient calcium, which can happen with a chicken who’s been eating a grower ration that’s lower in calcium than a layer feed. 

In established layers, there’s a few reasons for abnormal soft shell eggs, including insufficient calcium or protein absorbed, inflammation of the oviduct, or heat stress. Hens also coming back into laying can lay abnormal soft shell eggs.

Another reason is if the previous egg stayed too long in your chicken’s shell gland, causing the soft shell egg to be laid too soon.  

2. Lash Eggs

Among the most disturbing of abnormal chicken eggs to see is a lash egg.

Lash eggs aren’t actually eggs, but rather the result of an infection called  Salpingitis – an infection and inflammation of the oviduct. Lash eggs are generally shaped like eggs, since they still travel through the oviduct.

Lash eggs are the accumulation of pus, egg material, and possibly tissue laid by the hen. It can be soft or hard, and is comprised of layers of the shed material.

While some chicken keepers ring the death knell if they have a chicken that lays  abnormal eggs like lash eggs, the bottom line is it’s an infection – consult your vet to see if it can be treated. 

3. Incomplete pigmentation

“I forgot to change the toner cartridge” is a common joke when a chicken owner comes across an egg that’s not uniformly colored.

Eggs not uniformly colored are normal eggs that just have a funny pigmentation that day – it’s a minor flaw.

Abnormal chicken eggs like this is are usually caused by some sort of stress, such as heat stress. The hen is working overtime to keep her body cool – which means she has less energy to put into making eggs. 

Poor nutrition or a viral infection are other potential causes.

4. Bumps on eggs

Bumps on your chicken eggs are calcium deposits – they can range from minor to large deposits, and they’re generally white.

The most common cause is excess calcium in your hen’s diet – check to see if she’s somehow getting too much calcium. 

Other causes are defective shell glands or stress during the calcification process.

5. Very Small Eggs 

Lovingly referred to as fart eggs, rooster eggs or fairy eggs, very small eggs typically are missing the yolk. They’re cute to find, but don’t yield very much in the way of food.

Young pullets might produce fairy eggs when they first start laying – their reproductive system is just trying to catch up. 

I’ve also had hens lay fairy eggs when under stress, notably with one hen that had been savaged by a rooster.

Her reproductive cycle might have been disturbed by the stress, or her body might not have been able to produce a real egg because it was putting its energy into healing her body. 

Fairy eggs can also be laid when a foreign mass (such as a piece of tissue) triggers the hen’s system to produce an egg.

6. Double Yolkers

Double yolkers are always exciting abnormal chicken eggs to find – they will have two yolks in one egg.

Double yolks happen when the hen releases two eggs into the oviduct, and both of those eggs are included in shell.  

Double yolk eggs generally are larger which can be a cause for concern if it’s too large for your hen to pass – causing her to become egg bound or suffer a vent prolapse.  

Although they put stress on a hen’s body, double yolks are becoming so desirable that industrial farmers have bred hens that will only produce double yolked eggs in Europe.

Generally speaking, there’s nothing wrong with a chicken that lays double yolked eggs – it’s just abnormal.

You can incubate it, and there are stories of twin chicks successfully hatching, although it’s rare.

7. White banded eggs

White banded eggs occur when two eggs enter the oviduct, thereby making contact with each other in the shell gland pouch. 

When the hen is forming the shell of the first egg, the normal calcification process is interrupted, so it gets an extra layer of calcium – which is the white band marking.  

Causes for abnormal chicken eggs such as white banded eggs can be something simple, such as flock stress or something more serious such as an infection. 

Like always, your best bet is to watch your flock for abnormal behavior.

8. Egg inside an egg

The fancy name for an egg inside an egg is counter-peristalsis contraction, but in every day terms, they’re eggs that somehow found themselves inside another egg. 

It’s not common, but it does happen. 

It occurs when a hen releases a second egg into the oviduct before the first egg has completed the laying process. This causes the first egg to reverse in the oviduct, which is then added to the second egg. 

The two then have a second albumen and shell form encasing both eggs.

You can see an egg inside an egg here: https://youtu.be/FLt7bLIgv9o

Can you eat it?

Although I’ve not personally dealt with eggs inside eggs, I’ve read reports that they’re perfectly fine to eat. 

9. Speckled Eggs

Speckled eggs are pretty normal, as far as abnormal chicken eggs go. They look pretty, and it’s wonderful how unique eggs can be.

The speckles are actually extra calcium deposits, and are formed when the calcification process is disturbed or there’s a defective shell gland. 

They can also be caused by an excess of calcium. 

Although technically abnormal eggs, National Geographic studied eggs, and found  that speckled eggs might be a way to make shells stronger – so your chicken might be on to something. 

Can you eat it?

I’ve never had a problem eating a speckled egg – they just look abnormal.

10. Odd shaped eggs 

Odd shaped eggs are pretty self explanatory – they’re abnormal chicken eggs that aren’t uniformly shaped all the way around.

They might have an abnormal look, like a bulge on one side, or a very pointy end, or just look lumpy.

Odd shaped eggs can occur if there’s some sort of abnormal disturbance in the egg forming process, or if your chicken experiences some sort of stress such as over crowding. Age also makes a difference – it can occur in very old or very young hens.

In rare cases, respiratory diseases can cause abnormal eggs. I had a reader tell me her hen always lays odd shaped eggs – in this case, I would venture to say that since the hen lays consistently, it’s likely a structural issue internally. 

Can you eat it?

I’ve not personally had any issues eating abnormal shaped chicken eggs.