Hen lays blue eggs, suddenly lays grey eggs?

[aart]

That's what I initially thought, but we only have four hens, and as you can see we have exactly four different types of eggs. Also those four eggs in the carton picture we're all collected on the same day.

OK.
Let's try this open a gray egg and immediately peel the inner membranes off the shell and put shell on a dead white surface(like computer paper or paper towel). It may still show some of the blue pigment.
I suppose it's possible for the hen to have lost the shell pigmentation.
@Ridgerunner and/or @ChickenCanoe might know more about blue shell pigmentation.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Here are pics of these Blue Egg on the inside and the gray egg on the inside

The shell under the membrane is actually Pale Blue.
The white your seeing is the membrane that has dried.

 

[EmmaDonovan]

We have three Easter eggers. Two started laying fairly young. Their eggs were a dark olive color. We thought maybe they were really wheaten olive eggers (the hens look very much like that). Then over the past three months their eggs lightened to a more pastel green.

The third Easter egger started laying about a month ago. Her eggs started out as a very pretty blue and have slowly become more green.

Now their eggs are indistinguishable and all are a soft green. That's not a huge shift in color but it shows it's possible for egg color to change a little over time, at least with new layers.

 

[MysteryChicken]

We have three Easter eggers. Two started laying fairly young. Their eggs were a dark olive color. We thought maybe they were really wheaten olive eggers (the hens look very much like that). Then over the past three months their eggs lightened to a more pastel green.

The third Easter egger started laying about a month ago. Her eggs started out as a very pretty blue and have slowly become more green.

Now their eggs are indistinguishable and all are a soft green. That's not a huge shift in color but it shows it's possible for egg color to change a little over time, at least with new layers.

My Olive Egger bounced around from a nice olive green to turquoise, to blue with green speckles, & back to olive. She was never consistent. I had her for like a year, or two.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The base color of an egg is either white or blue. That's controlled by genetics at one specific gene pair. Blue is dominant so if just one of the two genes at that gene pair is Blue the base color is blue. If the hen has a blue egg gene she pulls pigment from the bile to color that eggshell blue for the full thickness. If she does not have a blue eggshell gene the entire eggshell thickness is white. It is not that she is coloring it white, she is not adding any pigment. The eggshell is made of calcium and calcium is white.

Brown or Green is just brown pigment added to the outside of the eggshell in the last half-hour or so the egg is in the shell gland. That's why the inside of the shell is either blue or white, the brown pigment doesn't get down that deep. You can scrape that brown or green off with sandpaper or even rubbing it with your thumb if you are firm.

@Chubbicthe2nd You are looking at them. Are those grey eggs the same color all the way through the shell or just on the outside? My guess is that they are the same and something has happened to that hen to stop her from extracting the blue color from the bile. I've never heard of that happening, I don't know why it would.

That's not a huge shift in color but it shows it's possible for egg color to change a little over time, at least with new layers.

Yes, they can change shade over time as far as that brown pigment goes. That is normal. That brown goes on at the end of laying process in the shell gland. If something happens so the egg is laid a little early all the brown may not go on so what is normally a dark brown egg looks pretty light or even white. What would be a normally dark green egg can come out bright green or even blue.

It is pretty common with my chickens that the first eggs laid after a molt are pretty dark. (Either dark brown or dark green.) But as the year goes on those eggs gradually become lighter. This is established hens, not just new layers. The amount of brown going on the outside of the eggshell lessens.

Some changes of shade of the color are pretty normal. But they don't go from base blue to base white.

 

[MysteryChicken]

The base color of an egg is either white or blue. That's controlled by genetics at one specific gene pair. Blue is dominant so if just one of the two genes at that gene pair is Blue the base color is blue. If the hen has a blue egg gene she pulls pigment from the bile to color that eggshell blue for the full thickness. If she does not have a blue eggshell gene the entire eggshell thickness is white. It is not that she is coloring it white, she is not adding any pigment. The eggshell is made of calcium and calcium is white.

Brown or Green is just brown pigment added to the outside of the eggshell in the last half-hour or so the egg is in the shell gland. That's why the inside of the shell is either blue or white, the brown pigment doesn't get down that deep. You can scrape that brown or green off with sandpaper or even rubbing it with your thumb if you are firm.

@Chubbicthe2nd You are looking at them. Are those grey eggs the same color all the way through the shell or just on the outside? My guess is that they are the same and something has happened to that hen to stop her from extracting the blue color from the bile. I've never heard of that happening, I don't know why it would.


Yes, they can change shade over time as far as that brown pigment goes. That is normal. That brown goes on at the end of laying process in the shell gland. If something happens so the egg is laid a little early all the brown may not go on so what is normally a dark brown egg looks pretty light or even white. What would be a normally dark green egg can come out bright green or even blue.

It is pretty common with my chickens that the first eggs laid after a molt are pretty dark. (Either dark brown or dark green.) But as the year goes on those eggs gradually become lighter. This is established hens, not just new layers. The amount of brown going on the outside of the eggshell lessens.

Some changes of shade of the color are pretty normal. But they don't go from base blue to base white.

A brown egg(Not talking olive though), can have brown pigmentation inside the shell to on occasion under the membrane. Sometimes it's pigmented all the way through rather then painted on.

 

[Ridgerunner]

A brown egg(Not talking olive though), can have brown pigmentation inside the shell to on occasion under the membrane. Sometimes it's pigmented all the way through rather then painted on.

True. It seems there is always an exception to anything related to chicken genetics. I considered mentioning it in my post but I can't always cover everything. My posts are often long enough to put most people to sleep anyway.

At least 13 different gene pairs have been identified to contribute to the shade of brown on an egg. It's been a while since I read about them so more have probably been identified. Some are dominant, some are recessive. At least one is partially dominant, some only act if anther specific gene is present. One "bleaches" out certain browns and can cause a white or close to white egg though there are certain brown genes present.

One is the one you are talking about. It "tints" the eggshell all the way through, not just on the outside like the other "brown" genes. I've had some of those though they were lighter in shade than your photo shows.

This variety of "brown" gene pairs is why you can get so many different shades or brown or green. They do not affect the base color of an egg. That base color is either white or blue and comes from one specific gene pair.

 

[gimmie birdies]

I have 5 generations of gray egg layers.

People don't wash a black copper maran egg before taking a pic. So enjoy that gray egg. (Also there are 2 kinds of eggs. Matte- which has heavy bloom, and glossy.)
I will admit this purple egg below was bloom. I wish I had more pics of it, if you have a neat egg, get lots of pics.

 

[McChooky]

View attachment 3970463
I have 5 generations of gray egg layers.
View attachment 3970464
People don't wash a black copper maran egg before taking a pic. So enjoy that gray egg. (Also there are 2 kinds of eggs. Matte- which has heavy bloom, and glossy.)
I will admit this purple egg below was bloom. I wish I had more pics of it, if you have a neat egg, get lots of pics.
View attachment 3970466

I've ever seen a gray egg!

 

[Chubbicthe2nd]

View attachment 3970463
I have 5 generations of gray egg layers.
View attachment 3970464
People don't wash a black copper maran egg before taking a pic. So enjoy that gray egg. (Also there are 2 kinds of eggs. Matte- which has heavy bloom, and glossy.)
I will admit this purple egg below was bloom. I wish I had more pics of it, if you have a neat egg, get lots of pics.
View attachment 3970466

Wow those are some gorgeous eggs.