Anyone seen an egg like this?

[ADVaughn]

A brown egg layer left this for me. What does it mean, if anything?

 

[Foster's Freehold]

How old is the hen? Has she molted? Hens will sometimes run out of the "spray paint" that gives the brown color to the eggs at the end of their cycle. If she's gonna molt, she should go back to her regular darker color.

 

[getaclue]

Did she just resume laying after her winter break? Normally, her paint box will fix itself in a few days, and her eggs will look normal again.

 

[Lochloosachicks]

Does it wash off? Sometimes I get something like that, but it comes off. I'm not sure what it is though. What breed is the hen?

 

[Foster's Freehold]

A brown egger develops a white egg from the shell gland. Then another "sprays" it brown. That is why the inside of a brown egger is white. Sometimes, they are low on the paint, like after molting, winter break, an illness. If you ever use straw in your laying box, you might even see where the straw has scratched the brown off.

 

[aart]

Looks like excessive bloom to me.

'Speckled' eggs can happen for several different reasons...very few, if any, of which are a 'problem'.
Can be caused by:
Excess or uneven pigment coating.
Excess or uneven cuticle(bloom).
Excess calcium deposits.
Porous eggs can appear speckled.
Some birds lay them consistently, some only once in awhile.
The pigment or bloom can change appearance when wet, then change back when dry again.

As long as bird is getting a good diet and is healthy in every other way, it is no cause for concern.

 

[ADVaughn]

How old is the hen? Has she molted? Hens will sometimes run out of the "spray paint" that gives the brown color to the eggs at the end of their cycle. If she's gonna molt, she should go back to her regular darker color.

She's only about a year old and first started laying last summer. She hasnt molted yet. Btw...since posting I'm now pretty sure it is my copper Maran doing this.

 

[RWise]

IDK, I see breakfast!

 

[morganalefae]

My brown egg layers do this once in awhile (that "paint" from what I have read is blood) either way as long as they are not soft,thin, shelless or the like I would not worry to much. good size egg by the look of it tho!