She laid an egg, but extra fluid

[FarmsteadLady]

Rhodie (my RIR) lays a pretty big egg..it is jumbo at a minimum. Today, I went outside to check on the girls and where she laid an egg there was extra fluid (yellow in color). The egg was totally fine but I have never seen this extra fluid.

Do I need to be worried or is this normal?

Thanks!

 

[feathersnuggles]

Hens DO cover their egg with a liquid "bloom" (I think it's called that?). When it's freshly laid, sometimes I have to wait for the liquid bloom to dry.

 

[FarmsteadLady]

Thanks so much for that...I guess it has dried before I have arrived in the past. Her eggs are quite large so I was hoping nothing else was wrong with her.

 

[Opa]

The wetness is in fact the bloom that is applied just as the egg is laid. Not only does it seal the egg it is also the source of color. A brown egg is white until it's laid and the brown color of the bloom is what makes it brown. This is very apparent with real dark eggs like maran and welsummers. If you touch the egg while it is still wet you will smear the color thereby showing the white shell underneath. Occasionally with some of my dark egg layers the egg will be a lighter brown with splotches of dark color. It's almost as if their ink jets have plugged and are no longer appling a fine mist of color.