Very strangely colored splatter on egg

[pegm]

I have 4 hens, 2 EE's, a BO and a RIR. The other day I went out to collect eggs, and found one I cannot explain. The RIR lays darker brown eggs, one of my EE's lays blue eggs. On the end of the RIR's egg, there are BLUE splatters, quite a lot actually. I am at a loss as to how this could occur. Any ideas out there? Anyone had this kind of thing happen?

 

[Messipaw]

Do you have pictures

 

[SpringPeeper]

I haven't kept easter eggers before, but I know with chocolate layers the pigment is deposited on the surface of the egg and shortly after laying can rub off. I believe it is the same with blue/green chicken eggs. Were the eggs laid in the same spot or close? If the hen hadn't laid in a while, she may have had plenty of pigment to spare and managed to get it on another egg.

I'd assume the RIR egg just came into contact with a 'wet' blue egg. Maybe someone else can tell you more, though.

 

[Messipaw]

I believe that EEs shells are the color they are from the beginning of laying. Does that make sense. Lol. I have an EE and I could never wipe any green from her shells. My brown eggs I can sometimes the brown color deposited prior to laying is still wet.

 

[PrairieChickens]

Yes, brown is an outer layer of pigment, so it can wash of. Blue is applied while the shell is forming, so it can't.

Pictures would be helpful, but the most likely cause is just concentrated "freckles" of bloom, the last layer on the egg that helps protect it against microbial infection. Sometimes one of my brown egg layers will produce eggs with bloom freckles that look like they're dotted with pink or gray.

 

[pegm]

As you can see, this appears "blown" on, not a contact color transfer. It is the same coloring as the blue egg next to it. I am at a loss as to how this happened.

 

[Messipaw]

it soes match the color of the blue egg. I think more so its just spots on which the brown pigment missed.

 

[aart]

Could be the brown coating on the blue egg is thin....
.....or it could just be thin brown coating....
.....or could be calcium deposit or bloom spotting which can be kind of opaque and look bluish.

Does it happen all the time or just sporadically?

 

[pegm]

I do know that the color of the egg under the brown is white (color me surprised when I hardboiled some eggs and the brown washed off the eggs), and the spatters are definitely blue. Just a mystery, and it has only happened once. So far.

 

[PrairieChickens]

I'm pretty sure it's just the bloom.