Marans eggs: What causes them to be shiny?

[shelleyd2008]

I have some BCM. Their eggs are very dark, a friend in FL who I sent eggs to tells me the ones she got are 7-8 on the color chart. Unfortunately, they are not shiny. Every once in a while I get one that is kind of shiny, but mostly they have a sort of 'powdery' coating on them.

What causes this? Is it because they are 'new' layers? Is there anything I can do to make their eggs more shiny?

Here's a pic of the eggs I have collected right now, the ones on the right are 'powdery'. (This pic was taken in my bathroom. The bathroom has fluorescent lights and I used a flash).

 

[ginormous chicken]

? Some of my Maran eggs are dark others are not. But you are right, it is not just the color, it is the fact they are kind of shiny. Does anyone know? My guess is the amount of calcium and how long it took the hen to lay? Longer = darker? I know a breeder told me if the hen is rushed she will lay lighter eggs.

 

[Illia]

Some sort of genetic trait. Some blue eggs are super shiny too, while others aren't. The shine is actually less coating on the egg. . . . The more coating shows up a matte finish, and the more there is, the more the egg gets that pale chalky effect, which with Marans eggs turns them purple.

It isn't about new layers, in fact, it stays that way throughout their lives.

 

[Debbi]

I've seen some people refer to this as "bloom". Take one of those powdery looking eggs, and run it under some water. Does it turn dark when wet? Let it dry, and it will go back to the original color. One of my new laying pullets has laid one of these, kind of different.

 

[pinkchick]

I agree with Illia and Debbi....and will add that some Marans hens and pullets can lay these eggs everytime they lay, others may lay them once in a while throughout her lay cycle. I had a splash copper pullet that laid these eggs everytime she laid, underneath that chaulky powdery coating was a beautiful Marans egg if it was wet, once dry...right back to the purplish chaulky coating. It is not a bad thing and does not mean they are not Marans, it is just something that happens and if you look close at other breeds eggs you will see it on many of them as well. I see it on my Welsummer eggs from time to time. I see it happen on my Barnevelder eggs, my Black Sexlink eggs (looks more whiteish on the lighter brown eggs, but still kinda has that purplish hue to it and can be spotted just like it is on the Marans eggs or very heavily coated almost smooth looking), I have also seen it on my Olive Eggs and my Ameraucana eggs from time to time. The only thing I can say about these Marans eggs is that they are harder to hatch....believe me I have tried to hatch them many times and on my last attempt, a couple of them hatched. One lays an egg like her mother and the other lays a nice colored "normal" Marans egg. I got one just a couple days ago from one of my darkest laying Blue Copper hens.....it looks almost white, but not when it's wet. I knew it was coming because she showed signs of it on a few eggs prior to it, with a couple of them kinda only having this very faint cloudy translucent hue to them, then the next one came out with heavy purplish speckling on it...then the whammy egg...completely coated and very light.

Here is that egg, top left, sorry about the hand print on it. The one below it is a random egg for comparison along with the normal eggs I get from the Marans. The gal that laid that chaulky one usually lays eggs just like the others.