Who's laying the speckled egg??

[Hep44]

All of our girls are just starting to lay, and we noticed someone is laying speckled eggs, but we're not sure who is the culprit. We have brahmas, gold laced wyandotte, barred rocks, RSLs, and a TSC special (some kind of mutt). I'm assuming it's the mutt, because she had a chipmunk pattern as a chick (maybe part wellsummer??) Do any of those other breeds lay speckled eggs sometimes?

 

[aart]

Have had Brahmas lay speckled eggs.
Welsummer too.

I'm assuming it's the mutt, because she had a chipmunk pattern as a chick (maybe part wellsummer??)

What does she look like now?

 

[Percheron chick]

My hatchery welsummers have fluctuated between solid medium dark brown and light brown with dark brown speckles (same hen). I like to cross those hens with my Ameraucana rooster and i end up with green eggs with brown dots. My favorite!
I vote for the mutt with some welsummer in her background.

 

[NatJ]

I've gotten speckled eggs from various breeds of hens. The most recent speckled-layer I had was a Production Red (a lot like a Rhode Island Red.)

I would say any breed that lays brown eggs can have individuals that lay brown-with-speckles eggs.

You can spend a few days sitting in the chicken pen watching them go in and out of nestboxes and lay eggs, or you can set up some sort of a camera to film who goes in the nestboxes, or you can go look every few minutes all morning to see which chicken and which eggs are in what nestbox.

Or if you have a cage that can hold just one chicken, plus food/water/nest, you can figure out who is laying them. Just shut one chicken in the cage in the morning. If she lays an egg, you know what hers look like. If she does not lay an egg--see whether a speckled egg was laid by any other chickens that day (which means she did not do it.) Once the hen in the cage lays an egg, or once any chicken lays a speckled egg, you can let that chicken out of the cage. Try another one the next day, until you have it figured out.

You can check their vents to see who is laying, because the non-layers are clearly not responsible for the speckled eggs. Just look at each chicken's vent, the hole that eggs and poop come out of. A rooster or a not-laying hen has a small, puckered vent. A hen that is laying has a vent that is larger, looks somewhat moist, and looks like it could stretch to let an egg out. The difference is pretty obvious after you've seen both kinds.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I took this from an article by Sumi.

9. Speckled eggs



Spots or speckles can be either brown or white. They are similar to calcium deposits, except the speckles are smaller. Speckles may or may not be pigmented. Some of the causes are:

- Stress or disturbance during calcification process;

- Poor nutrition, for example excess calcium in the hen's diet.

Quoted by member @aart:

'Speckled' eggs can happen for several different reasons...very few, if any, of which are a 'problem'.
Can be caused by:

- Excess or uneven pigment coating.
- Excess or uneven cuticle(bloom).
- Excess calcium deposits.
- Porous eggs can appear speckled.
- Some birds lay them consistently, some only once in awhile.
- The pigment or bloom can change appearance when wet, then change back when dry again.

As long as bird is getting a good diet and is healthy in every other way, it is no cause for concern.

And the link to the article

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/common-egg-quality-problems.65923/

Any chicken of any breed can lay a speckled egg. Most of mine that do it are pretty consistent about it. That's why I think it is probably just something to do with the shell gland. It is not a problem, the eggs are fine. It is not a breed characteristic. It's just the egg that particular hen lays.

 

[Hep44]

Have had Brahmas lay speckled eggs.
Welsummer too.


What does she look like now?

Shes the one in the middle with the grey legs

 

[aart]

Shes the one in the middle with the grey legs

Not a Welsummer....not sure what breed tho.

 

[Twizzler]

My one RSL lays speckled eggs. Sometimes very speckled, sometimes very few. Sometimes large speckles, and sometimes very small numerous ones.

I only have three that have started laying. So I know for a fact that they’re all from the same pullet. I think it’s just a personal, individual quirk.

 

[Hep44]

Not a Welsummer....not sure what breed tho.

I know it's not a welsummer, it's just a mutt

 

[Hep44]

Have had Brahmas lay speckled eggs.
Welsummer to
[/QUOTE]

How old were your brahmas when they started laying? Because I noticed what looked like our buff brahma's feathers in that nesting box, but I thought she was too young to lay