The Big Brown Spot

The chickens had a great time roaming the yard tonight.  The experience even perked up a sluggish Fitz.  Before the roaming, we were contemplating giving her the chicken version of a spa bath for what seemed to be another case of soft egg syndrome.  Fitz is still a laying machine and can't keep her calcium level up, even with all the special calcium-rich foods she's getting.  The vet told us to keep on with what we are doing and that she is okay.  Anyway, we think that the spontaneous yard exploration got things moving because a few minutes after she returned to the coop, she laid an egg.  The egg in the middle:

One side of her egg is a normal brown color.  Then there's the side you can see here.  It is very pale brown with a darker brown spot that matches the other side of the egg.  This is a clear example of how Fitz can't keep enough calcium in her system to keep up with the amount of eggs she is laying.  Here's a little PG-rated chicken biology: as the egg is formed inside the chicken it goes through many stages.  The shell is the last stage.  Fitz ran out of shellmaker at the end of the formation of this egg.  Know this: after she laid that funny looking egg, she was back to her pesky (and adorable) self and gave Bruiser a good old peck in the behind! 

If you are wondering if the egg is still edible, yes, it is!