Egg shell color changing

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NickyPick

NickyPick

Songster
10 Years
Sep 18, 2010
827
399
231
Pine Valley (New Waverly), TX
Why are my chickens' eggs getting lighter in color? The medium greens are now so pale they look almost white. Most of the brown eggs are so pale, they're getting pink to pink/white! The eggs are also getting smaller for some reason. My hens are about 15 months old and with 11 hens, we're averaging about 53 eggs a week.
 
I have heard that the darkest egg a chicken will ever lay is her first one. They tend to get lighter as the laying season progresses and then will get darker again after a molt. I have no idea why they are getting smaller though. Maybe they are getting ready to molt?
 
If you in Cypress are like we are here....heat may be affecting your egg size.

When temperatures get higher, the chickens consume less feed, and their egg size is smaller as a result. As a chicken lays a clutch of eggs, the coloration does fade. Add to that, recently someone here posted how the egg colors will lighten when the chickens are exposed to a lot of sun.

If you want details and the full article on heat..click on 'my page' by my signature, and then click on the page about 'charts and quotes'. apology for the extra clicking -- but this particular computer doesn't allow 'cut & paste'.

Everything is probably normal with your chickens.
 
Last edited:
Ooh, I hear you about the heat. My girls have a large floor fan just outside their run, with two wire chairs in front of it. They can comfortably all get on the chairs or below and get plenty of blow. They tend to spend the afternoons there, unless they're in the back of the horse pen, scratching around in the shady areas. I guess, even though last summer was such a record breaker heat-wise, I didn't notice as much because they had only just started laying (between 7/4 and 9/30).

 
I love your picture of the chickens on the chair. Nice set up too---


I wonder if I could get a good fan for my hooligans. Last year I was constantly switching out frozen plastic gallon milk bottles, and had an old rickety fan. -- Hopefully this year...not a drought like last and no record breaking heat. Fingers crossed.
 
I LOVE this floor fan (Wal Mart). It's a bit pricey at $40, but it REALLY puts out a lot of air. The low setting is like a box fan's high! I've got one on all the horse stalls and they seem to like them too.
 
I love your set up, and the fan is a great idea.

As far as the egg color getting lighter, I know the reason, but not all the specifics.

It's similar to the fact that hens are born with all the eggs in them that they will lay over their lifetime. The same is similar with the color. Eggs are basically painted as they they go through the laying process and the "paint" slows down as they lay many eggs.

Once a hen has gone through a moult, or been broody for a while, and begins to lay again, the eggs will once again have more color to them, and then they will begin to lighten up until they have another rest.
 
Love this info! Thanks...as for the fans, if you have a place called Harbor Freight near you, they have these types of fans for around $25. My friend and I picked up a couple for her pig pen last year and we're headed there this week to get a few more between the two of us for her various animals and my girls.
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