White egg

[-Chanticleer-]

I have coturnix quails and one of them laid a white egg. Is this normal? The birds themselves are all white with a few brown/black dots on the head and wings.

 

[Cool-breeze7]

Not sure it’s the only cause, but a cause can be being scared. If she was startled as she was laying the egg will come out faster. Stopping by the paint shop is the last thing the egg does before leaving the production line.

 

[Nabiki]

They happen now and then. Sometimes their egg printers run out of ink.

 

[-Chanticleer-]

we weren’t outside when it happened so I’m not too sure what spooked her? Just glad it’s semi normal.

 

[Nabiki]

we weren’t outside when it happened so I’m not too sure what spooked her? Just glad it’s semi normal.

Being scared isn't necessarily what would cause a white egg. I have had birds stressed into laying eggs and none of them were white. I have seen white eggs now and then.

The eggs devlop inside the bird as yolks. As they move through her system, towards the end the shell develops and the last thing that happens before it's laid is the application of the pigment (brown is blood, blue is bile). If the egg is laid before the pigment is applied, it comes out white.