That must have hurt

Many people do not know that a hen will lay an egg almost every day even if you don't have a rooster. Many vegetarians known as vegans do not eat eggs because they considered them young chicken embryos. We are vegetarians but feel better knowing that no matter how long a hen sits on an infertile egg it will not become a chick. Unless a hen goes "broody" and refuses to leave her clutch of eggs (actually laid by several hens sharing the same nest box) most of them lay the egg and go on about their business with no further thought for the thing.

If you keep chickens you know once in a while you will find an unusual egg. Sometimes there's an anomaly in the color of tinted eggs. All eggs start out as white and get "colored" as they are extruded, so to speak. Sometimes they are asymmetrical. The smallish egg on the right is delivered by Stefania, a White Crested Black Polish. This is the size all young hens lay, the eggs increasing in size as they mature. Stefania seems to be stuck in puberty.

We suspect one of the Dark Brahmas laid the gigantic egg you see spanning my husband's hand. (And we have large hands.)

Here the big egg is in perspective with our normally large eggs. Ouch!