My chicken laid a very tiny egg today??

[Neff]

I have four chickens (a buff orpington, a blue ameraucana, a barred rock, and a cinnamon queen - no roosters) and today when I went out to collect the eggs there was only one and it was very tiny. We live in Texas and it went down to freezing last night, but we covered the coop very well, and made sure they had plenty of food and water.
We got them in April of 2016, and they've been laying for around 4 months. I've never seen any of their eggs this small (a little larger than the top notch of one's thumb) even when they first started laying. It looked a bit like the orpington's eggs in color, but I could be wrong.
Any ideas what could be up?

 

[azygous]

The tiny egg is called a lash egg or fairy egg. If you crack it open, it won't contain a yolk. This happens with some layers from time to time, but is more common with older layers that may be winding down their careers.

It's normal, nothing to be concerned about.

 

[TalkALittle]

Fairy egg or fart egg. Lash egg is something else.

 

[Teila]

Fairy egg or fart egg. Lash egg is something else.

x 2

Fairy and fart eggs can also contain a yolk. As long as you are not seeing them frequently from the same hen, they are not a cause for concern.

 

[Cosmic]

One of my ladies laid a fairy egg two months ago. It contained a yolk and a very thick, gelatinous white.

 

[azygous]

Sorry. I stand corrected. Momentary slippage of aging brain cells. It happens from time to time.

A lash egg more often than not bears no resemblance to a real egg. It's substance is fatty or pus. They're harmless. But this isn't a case of lash eggs.

Very small fairy eggs won't have a yolk, though. I save them for decoration. Have a pretty considerable collection.

 

[aart]

I have four chickens (a buff orpington, a blue ameraucana, a barred rock, and a cinnamon queen - no roosters) and today when I went out to collect the eggs there was only one and it was very tiny. We live in Texas and it went down to freezing last night, but we covered the coop very well, and made sure they had plenty of food and water.
We got them in April of 2016, and they've been laying for around 4 months. I've never seen any of their eggs this small (a little larger than the top notch of one's thumb) even when they first started laying. It looked a bit like the orpington's eggs in color, but I could be wrong.
Any ideas what could be up?

Welcome to BYC!!

Did you take pic of it?
Did you open it up to see what's inside?