Eggs a weird colour - Pls help

[MegMTL]

So I have 4 'production red hens' not really sure what breed they are but I got them from a local commercial egg farm. They are supposed to lay brown eggs, and they did initially. Almost a week or so after getting them we keep finding these odd eggs that have a "powdered" look to them with an almost bluish tinge to it. They share a run / coop with my Ameraucana (real one not EE) rooster and hen who isn't laying yet. We get more of these "powdered" eggs than any regular brown ones, in fact I only get a 'normal' brown egg a few times a week if that.



You can see a picture of one of my 4 red production hens and the rooster with his lady.





It's hard to see in the photos but in real life the bluish tinge is very noticeable. Here it just looks 'dusty'. Also they all are 'normal' brown on the tops and bottoms, so it looks almost like someone has lightly spray painted them around the center this powdery colour. I'm very new to chickens so I have no idea if this is something that needs addressing or not. Thank you!

 

[Kelsie2290]

http://www.alltech.com/sites/default/files/alltech-egg-shell-quality-poster.pdf Calcium coating? (pictures middle of poster). ... are they on regular Layer food? If they are old production birds could be an age thing that they are starting to have trouble with their shell gland. How are the egg shells themselves, if the shells are of good thickness and if you are feeding them a lot of high calcium foods/treats you might want to stop that.

 

[MegMTL]

Thank you! That pdf guide was very helpful! It looks just like the calcium coating. I am feeding them 'layer' feed and they have access to our fields all day, so I do see them eating lots of grass and i'm assuming bugs they find too. What would be the best feed for them?

 

[Kelsie2290]

About the only other thing I could think to try at this point to figure out what it is, is put them on a flock raiser / all ages food and have oyster shell on the side to see if they self regulate their calcium intake better if it is they are picking up extra calcium foraging.... or if it is just an effect of their age/shell gland.

 

[MegMTL]

Ok I will try that. I live in QC, Canada so we are about to enter our very frigid winter. Not sure if I will need to supplement in the winter months. Also it may be worth noting I got them right before they started laying. The farmer gave them to me free because they didn't grow properly and were too small, they won't give large enough eggs for him to sell. One started laying right away, the other 3 took a few days - week before we found their eggs. Since then we have been getting 2-4 eggs / day. In all the hens are less than 1 year old.