Only one egg?

[taylacline]

We got our 6 hens last summer, so they are around 10 months old. So far it seems like at least 3 of the 6 were mislabeled and I have different hens then I thought. Thats okay, this is our first flock, we are just happy to have them. We get a variety of egg colors, light tan, speckled, green, and tan. But about a month and a half ago we got a blue egg, and it was definitely blue. Like almost baby blue, a pale pastel color. And we haven't gotten another one since. I feel like they are all at an age where they would be laying already. All the girls seem fine, they act okay, I'm just concerned that one has only laid once but hasn't anymore. Is this normal for them to lay 1 egg like 8 months old and then nothing else?

 

[Farmgirl283420]

is she eggbound? feel around her belly but not hard you don't want to crush the egg if she is eggbound, you can give her a bath and a gentle massage. I don't think that's normal and if shes not eggbound i'm not sure what to do wait what breed if she is not cold hardy, she just could be taking a break from winter where do you live is it cold?

 

[FunClucks]

Have you had days where you collect 6 eggs from your hens that you know were laid in the last 24 hours? Meaning none of the eggs were left over from yesterday? If so, then you know they all are laying and you know their regular colors. If this is the case, then I think what you saw was your green egger running out of brown pigment for her egg. It happens occasionally. The resulting egg will be blue, because that is her eggshell base color. Blue eggs shells are blue all the way through. White egg shells are white all the way through. Brown is always a pigment applied to the outside of the egg. After the (blue) egg is formed, the brown coating is applied in a subsequent step(s) in her reproductive tract, and the thickness and color and uniformity of the brown determines what color green eggs you get.

I've had a few eggs like this from my green egger, mainly some where pigment was only present in a few small places, or speckles. I could tell by the size and by what other eggs were laid that same day that it was my green egger's egg. Occasionally this just happens, it's a glitch in their laying system. Particularly at the end of a laying cycle, or after they've been laying for a year, their pigment systems kinda get tired sometimes.

Was the size and shape of your blue egg consistent with what your green egger lays?

 

[JubileeFarmer]

I have a Legbar based Easter Egger who usually lays green eggs but occasionally lays blue eggs. I think sometimes her "paint pot" doesn't have enough pigment so the eggs come out without the outer color coating. She seems perfectly healthy and I don't think it's anything to worry about.

 

[aart]

I have a Legbar based Easter Egger who usually lays green eggs but occasionally lays blue eggs. I think sometimes her "paint pot" doesn't have enough pigment so the eggs come out without the outer color coating.

This^^^ exactly.

 

[taylacline]

Have you had days where you collect 6 eggs from your hens that you know were laid in the last 24 hours? Meaning none of the eggs were left over from yesterday? If so, then you know they all are laying and you know their regular colors. If this is the case, then I think what you saw was your green egger running out of brown pigment for her egg. It happens occasionally. The resulting egg will be blue, because that is her eggshell base color. Blue eggs shells are blue all the way through. White egg shells are white all the way through. Brown is always a pigment applied to the outside of the egg. After the (blue) egg is formed, the brown coating is applied in a subsequent step(s) in her reproductive tract, and the thickness and color and uniformity of the brown determines what color green eggs you get.

I've had a few eggs like this from my green egger, mainly some where pigment was only present in a few small places, or speckles. I could tell by the size and by what other eggs were laid that same day that it was my green egger's egg. Occasionally this just happens, it's a glitch in their laying system. Particularly at the end of a laying cycle, or after they've been laying for a year, their pigment systems kinda get tired sometimes.

Was the size and shape of your blue egg consistent with what your green egger lays?

No we usually get only 4-5 eggs in a day, sometimes less. I can't remember if that day we had gotten a green egg along with the blue egg or not but it wasn't similar to our green eggs. Our green eggs are huge and they have like big rough spots on them that are green. I'm not sure if its extra calcium or pigment but they come right off. The blue egg was much smaller and smooth

 

[taylacline]

is she eggbound? feel around her belly but not hard you don't want to crush the egg if she is eggbound, you can give her a bath and a gentle massage. I don't think that's normal and if shes not eggbound i'm not sure what to do wait what breed if she is not cold hardy, she just could be taking a break from winter where do you live is it cold?

I don't think she's eggbound because if thats the case she wouldn't have made it very long right? Like when a chicken is egg bound its then only a couple of days before they die?
I'm not sure what breed she is, she was labeled an olive egger

 

[taylacline]

We got our 6 hens last summer, so they are around 10 months old. So far it seems like at least 3 of the 6 were mislabeled and I have different hens then I thought. Thats okay, this is our first flock, we are just happy to have them. We get a variety of egg colors, light tan, speckled, green, and tan. But about a month and a half ago we got a blue egg, and it was definitely blue. Like almost baby blue, a pale pastel color. And we haven't gotten another one since. I feel like they are all at an age where they would be laying already. All the girls seem fine, they act okay, I'm just concerned that one has only laid once but hasn't anymore. Is this normal for them to lay 1 egg like 8 months old and then nothing else?

Here's some photos of the girls and the eggs we've gotten. The light grey almost white bird was labeled sapphire gem but she's laying the huge green eggs. And I believe that the other one in the first picture is the one that laid the blue egg. She was labeled a olive egger.
The one egg picture has clean eggs and just showing the different ones we had they were not all collected the same day, you can see the blue and green. The other egg picture are freshly collected eggs from the same day before they are washed. You can see the rough deposits on the green egg.

 

[Farmgirl283420]

I don't think she's eggbound because if thats the case she wouldn't have made it very long right? Like when a chicken is egg bound its then only a couple of days before they die?
I'm not sure what breed she is, she was labeled an olive egger

Um I don’t think so I thought that too but my hen went a week before we treated her and she made it