Even though I’m calling this the first fart egg of the season – because we are finally digging out from under our deep litter in the hen house and are uncovering all kinds of things – it’s technically the first fart egg that we’ve *discovered* this season. It certainly could have been laid last fall when our newest crew began laying eggs.
Fart eggs – a name that brings endless joy and chuckles to our teens – is a trial egg. It’s the result of a young hen who is just starting to get into the business of laying eggs.
When a hen first starts laying, her eggs tend to be smaller than normal. Eventually as the bird’s body gets used to what’s going on, the eggs will get larger and larger until they become full size.
Sometimes, those first attempts at laying results in a fart egg so called because presumably, they are small enough for a hen to “fart them out.” These are impossibly tiny eggs that look like they came from another bird (in fact, that’s often what people assume when they find them in the coop.) Often these eggs don’t have yolks or any albumin. Basically, they are a misfiring, a half-hearted first attempt.
Fart eggs are definitely not good for eating, but trust me, especially when you have kids in the house, they are always good at providing an hysterical giggle or two.
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Wendy Thomas writes about the lessons learned while raising children and chickens in New Hampshire. Contact her at [email protected]
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