ok, i have 10 BO's and tehy all lay beautiful brown eggs. But, one of the girls (dont know who yet) lays the biggest and they are freckled! beautiful eggs! teh specks are very prominent and you can even feel them raised on teh shell. What are these specks, what causes them, is all ok?
One of my hens (GLW I think) does the same thing. She doesn't always lay the speckled eggs, but frequently I find them in the nest. If I rub the spots, they come off. It's as if the egg wasn't coated with the pigment which makes the egg a darker brown color... the egg was instead sprinkled with freckles of pigmnent. The pigment is deposited while passing through the last path of the oviduct, and it may just be that it wasn't applied properly. What makes this happen, I haven't the foggiest. Seems to me that I read somewhere that there are only two basic colors of chicken eggs; a white egg and a blue egg. The pigment coating makes the white egg various colors, from light pink to dark brown. Anyone have a comment about that? Am I right, or wrong? Carla
Some of my eggs' "speckles" don't rub off. They're darker brown spots that are actually in the egg shell. Don't know what causes this.
I have one that lays brown eggs with white speckles. It looks like someone took a white paint brush and splattered them with paint. I have no clue why they come out that way but they still taste good!
When my layers are eating a lot of oyster shell I've noticed some of the eggs are lighter with a "freckled"appearance . This normally seems to happen when they have been laying for a while. My guess is its just a nutrition thing or something along those lines. My EE chickens will lay varying shades of blue green eggs and I always assumed the difference was caused by their diet as they free range a lot . I wouldn't worry about it unless you start to see a lot of blood spots inside the shell then it could be a problem.
This is more an additional question than a reply. While I've had the calcium speckles on some eggs I have one chicken that consistently lays sticky eggs. This a.m. I studied one of her products and discovered there was egg yolk on the outside of the shell. Of course the straw etc. was stuck to the yolk. Obviously her shelled eggs are squashing the eggs not yet shelled inside. What's up with that? Thanks a bunch people. I enjoy and appreciate your info.
Alot of questions about the differences in eggs, inside and out, can be answered here: http://www.thepoultrysite.com/ourbooks/1/egg-quality-handbook/
