Matte shell vs. Glossy shell

[Quailerino]

I'm a quail noob, and am raising the first generation of my flock. The lovely hens from Nabiki's hatchery started laying just over a week ago, and have proven to be very reliable layers. I've noticed that some of the hens always lay eggs with a somewhat shiny/glossy eggshell appearance (on the right, in the photo), and other hens always lay eggs with a somewhat matte or cloudy eggshell appearance (pictured on the left). There is no difference in the actual texture of the eggshell. The contents inside of a glossy-shelled egg looks exactly like the contents of the matte-shelled egg. They both have the same delicious flavor.

Does anyone know what causes these fascinating differences in egg appearance?

 

[Aquira]

Perhaps there's just a heavier bloom on the less shiny ones?

 

[le_bwah]

No clue, but I'd be super interested in finding out. My hens are pretty consistent—the matte eggs seem to have a heavier "spatter coat" of white before the bloom goes on. You can tell the difference between a heavy bloom and pigment if you pop an egg in the fridge (the bloom usually shows cracking after refrigeration when viewed under magnification, at least on the eggs I've tested). I find washing the eggs, even gently, takes off both bloom and pigment.

Edit: also thought (on chickens at least) the bloom makes eggs shiny, not dull

 

[Fenrisulfr]

I am wondering about this also quite a time.
I was guessing, that the matte shells just getting a new layer, before layed... maybe took to long to be layed. But Idk.

Maybe it is just genetic.

If someone knows it, I'd be curious.

 

[Pandaisy]

One of my hens lays glossy eggs too, it didn't affect the hatching rate. Both of her eggs produced healthy chicks. The other one lays matte shelled eggs, same result.

 

[Nabiki]

I think it's just difference in how the individual hen coats her eggs. I have the same mix in my hens. I've found that it does seem to be pretty consistent on which bird(s) lay the powdery looking ones vs. the shiny looking ones.

 

[Quaicken108]

Yes I’m not sure but with chickens different breeds lay different colour eggs (if you haven’t, you should look at the different types. They’re all so pretty!) With quails it’s probably something with mutation and genetics but yeah that’s really interesting.

 

[Quailerino]

Ok so, after going down a real rabbit hole of googling, I've found a couple suggested causes. One suggests that a hen laying dusty-finish eggs may be stressed, the other suggests that it's a matter of calcium intake. I think it's more likely the latter. First of all, these hens are both chill AF, neither exhibiting signs of stress. Both are in the same housing/social environment, and laying different finishes of eggs. Varying calcium intake seems like a viable cause, because the hens are free to graze according to their personal preference. I have separate feeders/dishes for protein crumble, grit, oyster shell, and special treats of rotated variety. It would make sense then, that one hen may prefer to eat more oyster shell than another, for example. Perhaps the glossy-shell layer is not as big a fan of higher calcium foods?

 

[FloorCandy]

I have only celadons, but my original egg purchase had 6 spotted eggs for free. They were all the cloudier looking type, and all ended up being blue inside, in case any of this info helps.

The 6 spotted eggs hatched 4 red/fawn chicks, I banded all 4. One was born with a leg defect and passed despite all attempts to fix it, leaving 3. Two lost their bands and blended into general chick population. After all was said and done, I have 3 reds remaining, and one is ffrom a cloudy spotted egg. I have 1 hen who lays large matte color blue eggs. I suspect it is one of the 2 reds, (still narrowing it down) leading me to think this matte coloration is hereditary and not dietary or environmental, since I bought mail order eggs and certainly keep my quail very differently than a lot of people.

I’m incubating some of the smoothe matte colored eggs now and they are thriving, they’re the biggest and most active. On the celadons it really looks like a difference between matte and glossy finish, not a cloudy layer over top, but more the lack of a glossy top coat.

 

[Porch Chickens]

I'm excited to see this post about egg finishes.. For years I've had some chickens that lay mat and others that lay glossy. I'm winding down on my chicken keeping now and only have 2 left that lay; one 10 years old and one of indeterminate age who in I found on the street 7 years ago.. Both have started laying eggs again this week after stopping in fall when they molted. I always think they will be done laying for good and then they surprise me! I actually only know for sure that 1 of these is laying, which is the former stray chicken.. Both of these have always laid matt eggs but this morning I found a shiny egg! Really identical to the matt eggs I've had this week except for the finish. Both live an absolutely idelic life, With good food, and plenty of safe space, and also access to my lawn for part of the day, with supervision. They eat Helen's best lay crumble with a handful of SFL each day. I give them some in a bowl In the morning with water added to make it easier to eat. They also have access to as much dry feed as they want. Also free choice oyster shell. I haven't always done the moistened food in the bowl, but start doing this more for my little silky who's also 10 years old and no longer laying. I want to make it easier for her to eat more, as she's becoming a skinny old lady, and blinding when I from a cataract.