What's on this egg?

[Gwen]

I guess it's calcium then! Good to know. I'm new at this chicken business!! Thanks, everyone.

 

[Carlyle]

I'm not concerned - just curious. As you can tell, I'm a 'newbie' - but in my study of chickens, I learned that the egg is built up in stages as it moves along through the chicken. After the yoke and white is made, the white calcium is put on, which forms the shell. Then as THE VERY LAST STAGE, the thin layer of pigment is applied. So - the big question remains: How do calcium spots get onto the eggshell on top of the pigment layer? Where do they come from? What part of the chicken does this?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Check out this link. It gives some possible causes.

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/1/egg-quality-handbook/17/sandpaper-or-rough-shells

 

[Carlyle]

Wow, great - thanks for that. I had seen that book, but didn't want to buy it. I did not know there were extracts on the Internet. Alas, on the other hand, I looked through all the pages and did not see my situation. Weird.