What's up with my striped egg? [PIC]

[guesswhatchickenbutt]

Here are the 3 eggs I pulled out of the coop this morning.

The one in the front is darker at the bottom and lighter at the top - there is a clear "stripe" of darker color. It reminds me of when kids are coloring easter eggs and one gets left in the color a little too long.

I know nothing is wrong and eggs are always slightly different colors, but I AM curious as to the mechanics of this... anyone know why this happens? Just insanely curious, that's all.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Dragonfly Ranch]

I don't know but will be curious to see since I get these once in a while too.

 

[guesswhatchickenbutt]

It's almost like it got "stuck" in some part of the inside of the hen for a bit too long, you know??

 

[chickenboy21]

the shell pigment comes from the hens diet so i assume your birds are a on a fairly consistant diet, but the one hen could of got to a small patch of grass or something different that when the the pigment was going into the shell as it was being formed that this variation in diet triggered a darker portion of the egg

 

[guesswhatchickenbutt]

I suppose diet is possible, but I know I read somewhere about eggs getting "stuck" in the egg-making part of the chicken, but I can't find anything about it online now...

 

[savingdogs]

I've had a couple like that, too.

 

[Happy Chooks]

There was a glitch in the paint booth.

 

[buzymom13]

What REALLY happened is this: Chicken was walking along...minding it's own chicken self and all of a sudden BOOM....


The paint department spilled extra on that spot and tried to be creative....


Honest....

Quit shaking your heads...it happened that way.... ask the chickens...they'll vouch for me...

 

[Uzuri]

Mine do that all the time

It's normal, totally normal -- just so many normal things seem weird if you're used to getting your eggs from the store. Only those that conform to standards end up in the dairy coolers, so you get the impression that all hens lay identical eggs.

I swear one of mine has a tiny little paint roller in her behind, because when she lays a bicolor egg, the line between the colors looks just like what you'd get if someone was using a paint roller to paint a wall and got called away half way through.

 

[guesswhatchickenbutt]

Yeah, I know it's totally normal - no fear that anything is wrong.... just curious as the mechanics of it, you know? Like what happens inside the chicken to cause such a stark variation in color. Like a few other people mentioned...it's like it got stuck in the paint center - LOL...