Confusing Egg Colors

[PurpleLady23]

I don’t know if I have gone crazy or what. I have 12 hens consisting of 4 Rhode Island Reds (brown egg layers), 3 Cinnamon Queens (brown egg layers), 1 Black Sex Link (brown egg layer), 2 Golden Laced Wyandotte (cream egg layer), and 2 Starlight Green Eggers (Green egg layers). What I cannot for the life of me figure out is this. On the days I collect 12 eggs I will have 2 green and 10 brown and cream, but occasionally there is only 1 green egg and 11 brown and cream eggs. I collect eggs every day and am extremely thorough when checking for them. Completely baffling since whatever color the first lay is what color they are supposed to always lay. Has anyone else experienced this before?

 

[NatJ]

That is really puzzling.

A chicken should either lay green eggs, or not-green eggs (brown or cream.) So either you have one that lays not-green eggs and sometimes lays two in a single day (unlikely) or you have one that sometimes lays green and sometimes not (also unlikely.)

Shade of brown can sometimes change from day to day, and a green egg is blue with brown on the outside. Is there any chance she's laying eggs with so much brown you just don't notice the green?

 

[PurpleLady23]

Exactly. I thought of that, but no. The green eggs I get are always very green. I have no idea what is going on with them. I did just recently purchase a camera to put in the coop so maybe I can get some answers.

 

[Stj9590]

Although it is not common, it is possible for a chicken to lay two eggs in one day. I feel that is more likely than a chicken that lays two different colors. Especially since, like the previous commenter stated, green is brown over blue. If it worked the other way around (blue over a brown base) I would say maybe (still very unlikely) her eggs occasionally are lacking the tint of color. But that isn’t the case, so I say you’ve got a healthy double layer! Are your chickens still young?

I’m late to the party so any chance you found out with the camera?

 

[PurpleLady23]

Although it is not common, it is possible for a chicken to lay two eggs in one day. I feel that is more likely than a chicken that lays two different colors. Especially since, like the previous commenter stated, green is brown over blue. If it worked the other way around (blue over a brown base) I would say maybe (still very unlikely) her eggs occasionally are lacking the tint of color. But that isn’t the case, so I say you’ve got a healthy double layer! Are your chickens still young?

I’m late to the party so any chance you found out with the camera?

I still haven’t figured anything out. I’ve kind of given up. My Starlight Green egger hens and the rest except for my Rhode Island Reds are around 7 months now. My reds are about 18 months. No luck with the camera. My chickens have gotten really smart about laying so I have to egg hunt my property every day. I just found 12 eggs of various colors on the other side of my property fence now that some of the leaves have fallen off.