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Ayolkless egg is a small egg with noyolk, sometimes produced by apullet that has only just started laying. These eggs are common and usually pose no harm.
The eggs can also be calledfart eggs,cock eggs,fairy eggs,dwarf eggs, andwitch eggs.[1][2][3] The namewind eggs is also sometimes used, but this term more often refers to eggs without a shell, or with a soft shell, and less often to eggs that are rotten or unfertilized.[4]
A yolkless egg is most often apullet's first egg, produced before her laying mechanism is fully ready. In a mature hen, a yolkless egg is unlikely, but can occur if a bit of reproductive tissue breaks away, stimulating the egg-producing glands to treat it as a yolk and wrap it in albumen, membranes and a shell as it travels through the egg tube. In cases of an egg that contains a small particle of grayish tissue instead of a yolk, this is what has occurred. This type of egg occurs in many varieties offowl, includingchickens (both standard andbantams),guineafowl, andJapanese quail (Coturnix).[citation needed]
Since they contain noyolk and therefore cannot hatch, yolkless eggs were traditionally believed to be laid bycocks.[3] This gave rise to the myth that when a cock's egg was hatched, it would produce acockatrice, a fearsome serpent which could kill with its evil stare. According to the superstition, this could be prevented by throwing the egg over the family dwelling so it smashed on the other side without touching the roof.[3]
Leatherback sea turtles are known to lay large clutches of viable eggs interspersed with yolkless eggs. This may be due to too muchalbumen, or it may function to separate viable eggs from each other and thereby improve gas exchange.[5]
Thefossilized egg classifiedparataxonomically asParvoblongoolithus may represent an instance of a yolkless egg in an unknown species ofdinosaur.[6]
