Speckled egg... but the speckles scratch off...?

[allig8r]

Okay... so I have two (possibly 3) pullets that started laying about 2-3 weeks ago. I get 2 eggs/day most days (which I why I think 3 of them are laying). Occasionally I only get one or zero eggs, but that's less than half the time.

Today, I got 2 eggs, but one was speckled. It didn't look speckled until I washed it off--when the speckles got really dark. As soon as the egg dried, I had to REALLY look to see the speckles (which blended in with the light brown shell).

Then I scratched at the speckles. It took a little doing, but they came off!! I showed dh who thinks maybe this is a first egg from one of the other ladies (we have 9 total) and that the speckles are blood?

Or could it be a problem...??

 

[CarriBrown]

My BLRW, Nugget, gets those on her eggs, too. I wonder if it's just calcium deposits?

 

[BantyChickMom]

I have red stars that sometimes lay eggs that look like paint splatter on them. If I wipe it with a damp cloth they seem to disappear but come back once dried.

 

[allig8r]

Well, these DISAPPEAR when dried. When wet, they look like brown, human freckles.

I wonder if it's a calcium thing. They have calcium in a separate container available to them at all times. I wonder if that's a bad thing?

The girls aren't laying enough to keep us from buying and oddly enough, I just got an egg from the store that had the same thing--but those didn't scratch off like mine!

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Some chickens lay eggs with colored speckles on them. The brown coloring on an egg is actually a coating that is applied to the outside of the egg, along it's journey through the chicken. So are the colored speckles.

If there is blood on the outside of an egg, because a chicken is having problems, it generally looks like a smear, is the color of blood and will wash off. I hope this helps.

 

[jessupfamily]

We have at least a handful of hens that lay different variations of speckled eggs. They are all different breeds, some are even mixed. And they been consistently doing this for years. If you wash or pick the speckles off within a couple of days of being laid, they come off pretty easy. But, I've noticed if you rinse them or refrigerate them they don't seem to come off at all. Those chickens have never seemed to have any problems and are some of the best layers! We've never really worried about. Those eggs are kind of a neat treat to get from the nest!
Amy J.

 

[Faith5x5]

If you use an allbright sponge that has the rough green side, it will take the speckles right off.