7 mos old Welsummers earlobes turning white...UPDATE

[pinkchick]

My 7 mos old Welsummers earlobes are turning white, not completely white but red with white splotching, and on top of that yesterday she layed a flipped out egg, Terra Cotta colored with white speckles. The day before her egg was normal, I will post photos of both egg and ear, but before I do please understand these birds have not been crossed with anything and there has been no chance of someone else visiting their coop. I am very aware of where my original breeders came from and their heritage, I hatched these birds out this year along with many others....everyone else is normal. Her lobes where red last week and I have been noticing them slowly fading away to white.
She is acting normal, eating, drinking and pooh are normal. She has been laying for just over a month her other eggs were normal colored Welsummer egg...infact they are in the 'bator right now.

Here she is.....I'm sure you can spot her

Yesterday's egg is #2 and her egg the day before is #1

Any ideas?

*edited to say* hope you all can see this and it is not to grainy or fuzzy!

 

[EweSheep]

With the Welsummers they should NOT have any white earlobes, period! It must have been a throwback somewhere in the lines. Are you sure it is her eggs? If so, I would not use her for breeding. However she is very lovely!

 

[barred-rocks-rock]

It might be possible ( and I might be wrong ) that she has a Brown Leghorn somewhere in her "ancestors".
This could have happened very easily. A long time ago, before you owned her, or any of her "relatives", one of her Welsummer parents or grandparents, etc,, was bred with a brown leghorn, a breed that is almost identicall to th welsummer, except they have white earlobes. The leghorn was probably bred with the welsummer by mistake. White earlobes are a reccessive trait in Welsummers, so they have not shown up in her parents, grandparents, etc.. She just happened to be the luck of the draw, and got them.
And again, i may be wrong, but i am pretty sure.
Good Luck.

 

[amazondoc]

If her earlobe color is changing now, she may be developing a yeast/fungal infection on her skin, or the earlobes may be getting pale from the stress of some internal disease. The changing appearance of the egg would suggest that it is something internal.

Good luck with her!

 

[EweSheep]

It is not all that usual for hatcheries to use Brown Leghorns on their earlier stock of Welsummers to get the better egg production.

Amazondoc, it certainly possible!

Might have to do a little investigation to see if she got any "earlobe" fungus LOL!

 

[amazondoc]

Quote:
Mebbe so, but the OP said that the earlobe color is changing now. It hasn't always been white.

 

[barred-rocks-rock]

Quote:
Mebbe so, but the OP said that the earlobe color is changing now. It hasn't always been white.

I had leghorns. Mine didnt get their earlobe colors for a while.

 

[EweSheep]

Quote:
Mebbe so, but the OP said that the earlobe color is changing now. It hasn't always been white.

I've had Leghorns and their earlobes dont turn white until they started to lay or near laying time. Hope OP will get it checked out first. I honestly dont like the color of her second egg and hopefully she will not be internal layer since so many of us heard or have birds like that.

 

[amazondoc]

I've got leghorns in four different colors -- but, to be honest, I never paid attention to their earlobes!

 

[pinkchick]

Thanks for the replies. Yes, I am sure those are her eggs and I know they shouldn't have white earlobes which is the reason for this thread.

Her earlobes have just started changing and she has been laying for just over a month. I understand that leghorn is in their blood and things can always pop up, and yes I understand how closely they resemble each other.
The only thing that has changed in her living environment and it has been awhile...I added three new pullets that I hatched out to her coop a month ago.

Maybe I need to look into a chicken doctor and have her checked out...........