what happened to my egg

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MarengoChick

MarengoChick

Hatching
7 Years
Aug 5, 2012
5
0
7
Not having chickens before and new to the posting things
can anyone help me and tell me what caused this to happen to the egg
we have 6 hens this is our 1st brown one we have also received 3 white ones
Is this OK to eat and what should we do to have it not happen again
Thank you


 
That is an unusual egg. It should be fine to eat.

An egg spends a whole lot of its time going through the hen's internal egg factory in the shell gland, where the shell material is deposited and the brown coating (if it is a brown egg) is applied. That internal egg laying factory is fairly complicated. Sometimes it takes a while for the pullet to get all the kinks out of it. It's somewhat surprising how many actually get it right to start with.

Most pullets work out the kinks fairly fast but some may take a couple of weeks to get it right. That's why it is not unusual to get really small, really large, double yolk, no yolk, funny shapes, soft shelled, no shelled, or otherwise really unusual eggs when they just start laying.

It may be that something is wrong with her shell gland and you will continue to get eggs like that. It is very possible that she will correct the problem and you will eventually get eggs that are consistently the same color all over. I have a hen that often, not always but often, lays an egg that is darker on one end than the other. It's not nearly as dramatic as your egg, but I don't worry about it. That's just purely cosmetic. There is nothing unsafe about that egg.
 
Hello and welcome to BYC
frow.gif
Did you wash the egg? If I get an egg with poo on it and I wash it it usually turns out like that. It's still fine to eat.
 
Hello and welcome. I'll be watching this post because I'm with you on this. I've never seen an egg like this either. Is this the first egg the chicken has layed? I'll make a suggestion. Why not post the same question here,


Chicken Behaviors and Egglaying

https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/18/chicken-behaviors-and-egglaying

and let's see what answers you receive. It will be interesting to hear what others say.

Maybe she just ran out of brown paint! stumped! But I think over time nature will work it out. I would however think it has something to do with her shell gland.







Hello MarengoChick,

 
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Our red sexlinks lay brown eggs that vary from a light cream color to a fairly dark brown. Some are mottled like that, some are covered with little calcium bumps, some of the darker ones almost look like they have freckles! We eat 'em all :) Their diet, the temperature, the light, and stresses like noise can have affects on their systems so that you get some variation. Don't think you've anything to worry about. To set your mind at ease, crack it into a bowl before you cook it. If it looks or smells "off" you can pitch it...if it looks good (and I'm sure it will", go ahead and enjoy!
 

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