Noob egg question

[Appalachickens]

What's up with the little nub on the end of this egg? And related question - is it normal for a hen t suddenly start laying speckled eggs?

 

[TooCheep]

That nub is an excess calcium deposit. Not necessarily an issue, but keep an eye on it. If you get it consistently and/or you get a lot larger/more spread around the egg, then it may be a problem. You'll have to look up "egg shell problems" for more info.

As for the speckles, that isn't a problem at all. I get those from some of my brown egg layers. You may even see white speckles on brown eggs sometimes. Enjoy the variety.

 

[azygous]

The egg gets its shell in the shell gland at the very last stage of the process. The calcium covers the whole egg but sometimes the pointy end either ends up with not enough calcium or too much. The nub is evidence of a surplus of calcium.

As for egg color and pattern, in the case of brown eggs, it's spent red blood cells that make the color. But there can be an excess of these cells and that results in the freckles. But it's usually a signature of that specific hen. It's not usually the case that a hen would suddenly start laying freckled eggs, but it could be a temporary fluke. This usually would occur in a new layer.