More egg questions

[amama]

Sorry I'm posting so often here! I looked through an article of common egg problems, and don't see my exact questions addressed in the article.

I saw "speckled eggs" listed as a problem, some of our brown eggs are speckled, I didn't think that was a problem?

We have 15 Black Australorp hens that are just starting to lay, we are getting 6 eggs a day now, and most are normal looking; some have brown specks, some lately have had white specks, and some have almost sand-like gritty bits all over them.

Are any of those things I need to address or are they normal eggs? They are free ranging a bit, and have free feed Nutrena Layena pellets that have calcium, maybe it's too much?

We also got a giant egg today, the large egg carton lid won't even close! You can see the gritty texture bits all over the larger egg in the first picture. Thanks!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Speckled are normal, they are just dots of extra pigment. Large eggs are often double yolked, they are suppose to be good luck.

 

[sawilliams]

The size, it's possible a double yoke. And the spots if it's bumpy that's extra calcium deposits. Neither are anything to worry and normalize with time

 

[donrae]

Speckles aren't a problem. My egg customers covet them

. They look so pretty in the carton.

There's not really much that can happen with an egg shell that makes the egg unfit to eat. It can be different colors, have weird lumps, bumps, ridges, waves, speckles, or other general funkiness. They're all pretty much just glitches in a hen's system and no cause for concern.

Some of my pretty eggs.......

 

[amama]

Thank you for the replies, makes me feel better. Will use the large one tomorrow and see if it's a double yolk.

That's so strange, it's an article on this website about the speckles being a problem, here's what it said:

9. Speckled eggs

Spots or speckles can be either brown or white. They are similar to calcium deposits, except the speckles are smaller. Speckles may or may not be pigmented. Causes are:

- Stress or disturbance during calcification process;

- Poor nutrition, for example excess calcium in the hen's diet.

 

[sawilliams]

It's not really and issue as much as a concern that we first timers might have. You really just have to watch sometimes it's very normal for one chicken to do all the time, and sometimes it's just an odd egg. She laid an extra large that's enough to put stress on any hen. I have one that lays all her eggs with a thin spot at the top towards the air sac. Of 3 similar color eggs I know hers by that spot everytime

 

[donrae]

Here's how it's been explained to me....

The brown eggs are genetically white. Crack one and take a look at the inside, it's white. The brown is a coating that's applied at the last stages of egg formation, after the shell is fully formed. The amount of brown varies from breed to breed, some are a pale cream, some are the dark chocolate or terra cotta color. Whatever internal mechanism that applies the brown can get semi clogged, similar to a spray can of paint. That gives you the splatter/speckled effect.

When I get a very speckled egg, my Honey jokes about needing to go shake the hen to clear her clogged sprayer

. I like them and wish I could get them to do it on command!

 

[aart]

New layers can lay some funky eggs as they machine gets up, running, and tuned in...can take up to a month or so for things to smooth out.

'Speckles' can caused by several things, that 'problem egg' list does not cover them all and tends to always cite a health/diet problem and not just the vagaries of eggs.

They can be excess bloom, excess pigment, excess calcium......none of which are really cause for concern unless they are prolific and frequent.
Some individual birds always or often have pigment or bloom speckles.

We are used to seeing perfect and identical eggs in the carton form the store, it's because they are sorted to be that way...the funkier ones get sorted out for other markets/uses. With homegrown eggs, you are going to see all those 'reject' eggs. Time, observation, and experience will give you a better handle on what is 'normal' and what is cause for concern when it comes to the eggs, the birds behaviors, and their health.

That big speckled egg in your first post appears to be a double yolker with excessive bloom....speckles might even wash off.

 

[amama]

Thank you for the reply. I don't expect perfect eggs, and really enjoy that they aren't white like the store, but just wanted to make sure we aren't doing anything wrong causing the funky eggs, esp. the sandy grit on the outside of some of them, and the super large ones. I don't know what feed they had before I got them at 5 months old, and my feed has oyster shell in it, so I was wondering if it's too much calcium. I'll switch after this bag to one without and oyster shell on the side just in case.

I have a hen with a prolapsed vent now, so the large ones concern me. I figured they were hers, but she was in the barn yesterday and we got another super large one with blood on it in the coop so it either wasn't her, or we have a couple that lay really big ones.

 

[amama]

Yep, all four of the "monster" eggs were double yolked, seems like I may have a hen that lays them every other day like that