Where did this white egg come from?

[slowloris]

I have ten chickens, 1 Brahma, 3 Buff Orpingtons, 2 Barred Rocks, 2 Isa Browns, 2 White Rocks...I just went to check for eggs (Thrilled that we are still getting two or three eggs a day this late in the season) and found a white egg! All these girls have been laying brown eggs for over a year. I'm baffled! Has anyone had this happen?

 

[staceyj]

Its hard to see in the lighting... is it “true white” or just light on paint?
My buffs do that occasionally, especially towards the end of a laying cycle.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

It looks a very light than to me. Could be it just didn't get as much pigment which sometimes happens.

 

[Callender Girl]

Oh, good! Someone else has the same mystery that I had. While some of my runner ducks lay white eggs, and my bantam cochins lay white eggs, I recently found a white egg among all my brown egg-layers and wondered what was going on. It was far too small to be a duck egg, far too large to be a bantam egg and totally in the wrong coop to be from anyone except a brown egg girl. I KNOW that chickens don't change egg colors, i.e., whatever they lay is the color they lay for life, but ... Since one of the girls is a Buff, maybe Honey did run short on pigment? Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[slowloris]

Its hard to see in the lighting... is it “true white” or just light on paint?
My buffs do that occasionally, especially towards the end of a laying cycle.

It has a little bit of pale (very pale) brown coloring on one end.

 

[staceyj]

When my buffs were brand new layers, their eggs were I’d say a strong medium brown.

Generally now they lay a light brown. Darker than tan. Just not medium.

 

[staceyj]

It has a little bit of pale (very pale) brown coloring on one end.

Yup. Sounds like it just missed the paint department on its way by.
It’s totally fine to eat in case you’re wondering.
And you’ll occasionally see freckles too.