The Mystery of the White Egg

[Fuzzy Chicky Mama]

You can tell who laid what egg by earlobes! Red typically means Brown, while White, or lighter colors mean White. Not every hen is going to lay their advertised egg color!

Really? I didn't know that! So a Buff Orpington could lay white eggs? Weird.

 

[chickenlittle21]

Really? I didn't know that! So a Buff Orpington could lay white eggs? Weird.

If you have buff orpington laying white eggs that means its parents were bred incorrectly, so basically they're genetics are "messed up". She would be considered "hatchery quality" and she definitely wouldn't be show quality. I believe that the one with the white earlobe is a buff minorca, not a hatchery quality buff orpington, though.

 

[The Happster]

We have a pen with 12 Buff Orpington pullets and a 3 yr old Buff Orpington Hen. The pullets started laying a few weeks ago and so far everyone has had light brown eggs. Tonight we found a pure white egg. I'm so confused. How could this happen? I can't believe any of these ladies are not Orpingtons as we ordered them from McMurray Hatchery and they all look the same.

Do you have any full body pics of them?
Earlobe colour is NOT an accurate way to tell egg colour.
It's like saying long-haired cats are female.
Sure, some might happen to be, but there's no science to it.

Orps typically lay cream eggs.
It's likely yours aren't the greatest quality, or possibly some Minorca in there.

 

[CHlCKEN]

Do you have any full body pics of them?
Earlobe colour is NOT an accurate way to tell egg colour.
It's like saying long-haired cats are female.
Sure, some might happen to be, but there's no science to it.

Orps typically lay cream eggs.
It's likely yours aren't the greatest quality, or possibly some Minorca in there.

I agree. While it is a way that could tell you something, O with young pullets who don’t have their full comb and wattle/flesh color in yet, it really doesn’t help you at all.
]

 

[chickenaskquestion]

Interesting chicken conversation.. The breed of chickens you have aren't supposed to have white eggs. Maybe they aren't even the breed you said it was.

 

[Yardfulla poopers]

My RIR lay white eggs when they first start. They gradually become darker as the chicken lays more. Maybe that's what's going on or maybe my chickens are oddballs. I've had 5 double yolks in 2 weeks too.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Ear lobe color is determined by genetics. Egg shell color is determined by genetics. There is no genetic link between the two. Most purebred chickens follow the red lobe/brown shell or white lobe/white shell rule, but that's just because the people that designed the breeds did it that way. There are several purebreds that do not follow that rule. Once you start mixing different breeds all rules are off. Red lobe/white shell and white lobe/brown shells are really common. That myth that ear lobe color determines shell color is out there and will never go away, but it is a myth.

There are two basic shell colors, white or blue. Brown or green is just brown laid on top of either white or blue. @Fuzzy Chicky Mama if you crack one of those brown eggs and look at the shell inside you'll see that it is white. For a hen that lays a brown (or green) egg, the last half hour or so when the egg is still in the shell gland is when that brown is laid on. If, for some reason, the egg is laid a little early it could come out white. The brown had not been applied yet. If that egg shell is kind of thin that would support that theory, it was laid too early.

A hen's internal egg making factory is pretty complicated. Everything has to come together to get a perfect egg. That's not just putting the egg together properly but include when and where to lay it. Often a pullet doesn't necessarily get everything right. That's why it isn't unusual for a pullet to start laying thin-shelled, no-shelled, thick shelled, double yolked, no yolk, or otherwise weird eggs when she first starts. Most of them get the glitches out of their system pretty quickly. To me it's surprising that so many get it right from the start, laying a perfect egg in a nest during daylight hours.

I don't know why that egg is white. It could be a glitch from a pullet just starting to lay, for some reason it was laid a little early (she may heave been disturbed while laying), a defective shell gland, her body did not manufacture the brown coating to put on the egg, she may be a different breed. It's possible that a strange rooster hopped a fence, maybe a few generations back. I consider that unlikely because when you cross a brown egg layer with a white egg layer you should still get a brown egg, just lighter brown. It will be really interesting to see if that white shell color repeats. With it that bright of a white I would expect it to be from a white egg laying hen.

Why would a Buff Orp from McMurray have white ear lobes? That is harder for me to understand. If the person that decides which chickens get to breed uses ear lobe color as a criteria that should not happen. I don't know how McMurray manages that but white ear lobes should have been eliminated from their breeding flock long ago. But even breeders breeding for show get a lot of chicks with flaws.

 

[CHlCKEN]

Can I add, that not every chicken is going to lay their advertised egg color. You may get eggs with specks, or dark or light tints. It’s not a definite bet your eggs will be light brown, but the white will probably not be consistent. Could be caused by the fact she is a new layer, or She could in fact just happen to lay a white egg (I’m saying this in my experience with BRs, Not BOs, one of my BRs layed an almost white egg- her name was Daisy, and out of 10 other BR layers who all laid a light brown egg, hers where always very pale and almost white. To say that will happen to you may not be completely accurate, maybe the egg was just a one time fluke and it won’t be like Daisy’s, but it happened to me so it CAN happen)

 

[Fuzzy Chicky Mama]

I've separated the one with the white ear lobes just to see if she's the one laying the white eggs. Does she look like a Buff Orpington or Buff Minorca? I still think Orpington. She sure acts like one. Lol. But I've never had a Minorca so idk what they are like.

 

[CHlCKEN]

Ear lobe color is determined by genetics. Egg shell color is determined by genetics. There is no genetic link between the two. Most purebred chickens follow the red lobe/brown shell or white lobe/white shell rule, but that's just because the people that designed the breeds did it that way. There are several purebreds that do not follow that rule. Once you start mixing different breeds all rules are off. Red lobe/white shell and white lobe/brown shells are really common. That myth that ear lobe color determines shell color is out there and will never go away, but it is a myth.

There are two basic shell colors, white or blue. Brown or green is just brown laid on top of either white or blue. @Fuzzy Chicky Mama if you crack one of those brown eggs and look at the shell inside you'll see that it is white. For a hen that lays a brown (or green) egg, the last half hour or so when the egg is still in the shell gland is when that brown is laid on. If, for some reason, the egg is laid a little early it could come out white. The brown had not been applied yet. If that egg shell is kind of thin that would support that theory, it was laid too early.

A hen's internal egg making factory is pretty complicated. Everything has to come together to get a perfect egg. That's not just putting the egg together properly but include when and where to lay it. Often a pullet doesn't necessarily get everything right. That's why it isn't unusual for a pullet to start laying thin-shelled, no-shelled, thick shelled, double yolked, no yolk, or otherwise weird eggs when she first starts. Most of them get the glitches out of their system pretty quickly. To me it's surprising that so many get it right from the start, laying a perfect egg in a nest during daylight hours.

I don't know why that egg is white. It could be a glitch from a pullet just starting to lay, for some reason it was laid a little early (she may heave been disturbed while laying), a defective shell gland, her body did not manufacture the brown coating to put on the egg, she may be a different breed. It's possible that a strange rooster hopped a fence, maybe a few generations back. I consider that unlikely because when you cross a brown egg layer with a white egg layer you should still get a brown egg, just lighter brown. It will be really interesting to see if that white shell color repeats. With it that bright of a white I would expect it to be from a white egg laying hen.

Why would a Buff Orp from McMurray have white ear lobes? That is harder for me to understand. If the person that decides which chickens get to breed uses ear lobe color as a criteria that should not happen. I don't know how McMurray manages that but white ear lobes should have been eliminated from their breeding flock long ago. But even breeders breeding for show get a lot of chicks with flaws.

Yeah. I’m taking back what I said. I was writing it on the fly and I was skeptical since ive Seen plenty birds go against the earlobe code. But I saw someone else post About it so I just followed along rather than listening to the obvious facts! I just saw that on Pinterest years ago so it stuck in my brain. Not at all would I say it is accurate, but it do think it has a chance- not saying it’s reliable.

I've separated the one with the white ear lobes just to see if she's the one laying the white eggs. Does she look like a Buff Orpington or Buff Minorca? I still think Orpington. She sure acts like one. Lol. But I've never had a Minorca so idk what they are like.

Buff Minorcas, have a significantly different body shape than Orpingtons- you can see in your photo that she certainly (most likely) isn’t one- probably IS a BO just laying white eggs- maybe the earlobe myth is true! They don’t lay every day, and being separated from the flock may induce stress that will prevent her from laying, but you might get an egg from her!