corturnix egg color

[chickbird]

I Decided To Boil Some Quail Eggs To Try For Pickling And Began To Wash Them And To My Surprise All Those Beautiful Colors Are Mostly Poop And Washes Off To A White Egg. Just Wandering How Many Knew This?

 

[mochicken]

I havnt boiled any yet but I have washed off the colors before, kinda weird huh lol

 

[bfrancis]

There might be some fecal matter on an egg...but the spots are not fecal matter. It used to be thought that color was applied to the shell immediately before laying, but research shows that coloration is an integral part of the development of the shell, with the same protein responsible for depositing calcium carbonate, or protoporphyrins when there is a lack of that mineral.

Studies have shown that where the egg is most thin in shell density, a spot is "glued" to that area to strength in it. I know this sounds weird and I know the spots do wash off since they were applied after the initial formation of the egg, but its not poop. Don't take my word for it though...google is an amazing tool. Did you know that it's possible to wash the color off chicken eggs too? Take a brown egg layer and a wash rag...see what happens

It's always fun and exciting to learn more about your birds!

Hope this helps

 

[chrishel]

When I wash dirty eggs before cooking (and they all seem to be dirty lately), the spots under the poop do wash off. It's like the poop dissolved the spots. If you rub enough, you can rub off the spots eventually.

Also, when we dye eggs for Easter, if we leave them in the dye with vinegar, the spots start to peel off. I know lots of people who dissolve shells with vinegar before they pickle their eggs. Supposedly, you can even dissolve the shells off an uncooked egg. I've never tried it, but I've seen science activities for kids where they do that.

 

[chickbird]

i am glad to know that it is not fecal matter although it certainly seems like it is. i had decided that it probably was not a good idea to boil the eggs as this might enter the egg, glad to know it is something else. especially since i so love the color variations.

 

[Stellar]

It sure is fun making all white eggs haha. The spots are there originally to help the hens identify their own egg. I bet the fecal matter is quite acidic and dissolves the color as well.

 

[Chick Charm]

Spots on quail eggs are there naturally and yes there can be "added" spots of poo that need to be washed off. A fun experiment is to brine your quail eggs in vinegar and watch to see what happens to some of those spots. Also, try dyeing some of your eggs in food coloring to see how the color is absorbed into the egg shell. It's pretty cool.

 

[joe125]

Quote:
I was going to suggest soaking boiled eggs for pickling in white vinegar over night. It not only removes the color, but the shell as well. You then only need to remove the membrane before pickling.

I've never dyed coturnix eggs before.