Rhode Island Red egg color

[yogi]

My R.I.R. lay a fairly dark brown egg. However I bought some Bantam rir on ebay and they are ivory. I am wondering if I got ripped off. Should they be the same dolor.

 

[Junibutt]

My RIR laid a pinkish/really light brown egg. Its her first egg, so I am wondering if she has been cross bred in between and not pure. She looks wonderful though!

 

[MzPlacedHippie]

My production red egg bowl:

I get different shades and sizes. Only one of my girls really looks like a RIR.

 

[mwells6chicks]

I waited for the first time today to see which bird lays which egg. One RIR laid a pale peach color and the other RIR was dark with red freckles. My Delaware also laid a light brown/peach egg. I have an aracauna who lays beautiful light green eggs. I also have a BO who lays a light brown egg. It's nice to see all the different shades, but I was curious if one bird will lay different shades day to day or is it always the same color? Sometimes I get 2 dark brown eggs, one always with freckles. The other 3 differ in shades from light peach to light tan to light brown.

 

[mwells6chicks]

I couldn't get my BO in this shot. One of the RIR gets a little mean. She stares me down and then goes after my toes.

 

[mwells6chicks]

those look like the same colored eggs I get my own RIR.

 

[mwells6chicks]

Welp, I guess from what I'm reading here, my RIRs aren't "real". Dang. Guess I got gyped. Oh, wait, no I didn't....check these out.

I get the same colors from my own RIR. speckles and all

 

[hilaryhake]

This is a really old thread, but my RIR's 1st eggs were pale. As they have gotten older they have gotten darker. It is normal for 1st eggs to be lighter, it doesn't mean you don't have RIRs. I had one lay an almost white egg once. Turns out she was deficient in Vitamin A. So I boosted her Vitamin A and her eggs went back to a nice brown color. Egg color can and will vary depending on numerous factors.

 

[dlbranton]

She looks like a New Hampshire Red to me. She definatly is not a RIR. It's true that hatchery strains are sometimes a darker brown but there is never this drastic of a differece. (At least in my flock of 300 RIR's that are all hatchery, I have not seen this big a difference.) Whether she is a hatchery strain or a breeder strain, she should be darker. She does not look completly like a NHR either. Besides, NHR's lay brown eggs also. She seem to be a mix breed, which would make sence. You can breed two brown egg layers of different breeds and get a white or cream colored egg layer. Some brown egg layers have a genetic "responce" when bread with brown egg layer of a different breed, which cancels out the brown egg gene. It is a type of sex-link responce. some one could have had RIR hens and a rooster that was simular to a RIR and got them mixed up in the breeding.

Seems like you didn't get what you asked for. If it is a reputable person or hatchery, they should make it right.
Sorry to hear it worked out this way for you.
Please keep us filled in.

 

[gininana]

I bought 2 RIR pullets from my local feed store. They have just started laying a week ago. One has laid 5 dark brown eggs consecutively, but her eggs are tiny...all exactly the same size...about the size of a 50 cent coin. The other one has laid only one egg which is a lighter, paler shade of brown and medium in size. Just wondering if it is common for a new layer to lay such tiny eggs. Also, since the other hen's egg is a different color, is she mixed? The two hens look exactly alike...a deep rusty red color.