Different egg colour from last year

[Poah]

Hey all!

I noticed that one of our rhode islands (I've got three) has started laying a different colour egg from last year and I have no idea why! See the picture below.

Nothing has changed with their diets, or behaviours, or health...it's just...a different shade this year. Instead of being the normal brown, as you can see, they now look like this off colour white.

Not overly concerned - more curious than anything.

 

[Ridgerunner]

How long since she started laying this year? Did she molt last fall/winter and stop laying? Typically the first eggs a pullet or hen lays are the darkest whether a pullet's first eggs or a hen's first eggs after a molt. The longer she goes in the laying cycle the lighter the eggs get. That is a common reason for this type of complaint. But it should be a gradual process. If it is as dramatic as I think you are seeing then there is probably something else going on.

The raw material hens use to make the brown pigment are dead red blood cells. Red blood cells are always dying and being replaced so there is no shortage of raw material. Sometimes something happens to the hen's ability to process those red blood cells into brown pigment. I don't know what would cause yours to do that but as long as she is acting healthy and the eggshells are thick enough I would not worry about it.

The brown pigment is put on the outside of the eggshell during the last half hour or so that the egg is in the shell gland before being laid. If that egg is laid earlier than normal it can be lighter than normal. Again, this is a common occurrence. Usually this is a one-off, something happened while the hen was laying the egg and caused her to spit it out early, a predator scare maybe. But since you have had two (or more) the same shade this does not seem that likely.

As long as the hen is acting normal and the eggs are normal other than the shade of brown I would not worry about it, just some of the strangeness in dealing with living animals.