Why are my Ancona's eggs not white?!!

[Mahaliamcg]

I have six chickens, four of them are 19 weeks old (a lavender Araucana, Light sussex, Ancona and -what I was told was a buff orpington but looks too narrow and is half white.) I was expecting my Ancona to lay first and have found two eggs in the coop this week. However, they are definitely not white as all the websites and forums are telling me they should be (if laid by an Ancona).
They are only small eggs, so I'm not expecting they have come from the Light Sussex or the 'orpington' but I am just very confused!

Can anyone help?
Thanks

 

[Ridgerunner]

Instead of listening to what people say on all the websites and forums exclusively, factor in a dose of experience and reality. Trust what you see more than what some stranger over the internet tells you what you should see. You are dealing with living animals. Nobody, including me, can tell you what yours will do. Odds are yours will do something different than mine.

If you have a true Ancona, she should lay white eggs. If she is a mixed breed, she might or might not lay white eggs.

It is normal when a pullet first starts to lay that the eggs are quite a bit smaller than the size she will eventually lay. That’s nature’s way of protecting a pullet that has not yet reached full size from injuring herself trying to lay a larger egg than she can handle. The eggs will gradually get larger. After she goes through her first adult molt the eggs will jump up even more in size. They are often two years old before they lay the eggs the size you think they should.

I don’t know where you are getting your information about when they will start laying. There are some breed tendencies, but you have to have enough chickens for those averages to mean anything. Each one is an individual and you only have one of each. Averages don’t mean anything for you. It could be any of your pullets laying.

Don’t get too hung up on what shade of brown they should lay either. There are breed tendencies but within a breed there is a tremendous variety of shades they could lay.

If your Araucana is a true Araucana she will lay blue eggs. That’s a breed requirement to be a true Araucana. I’m assuming you are in the US and are talking about Araucana to the American standard. I believe the British or Australian standards allow green eggs. If you got her from a hatchery she is not a true Araucana and may lay any color of egg: blue, green, white, or brown.

There is hardly anything that is hard and fast in chickens’ behaviors. There are many different possible behaviors. There are tendencies but as living animals they are liable to do any of them. You really do need to be flexible when you are dealing with your chickens.

Good luck and enjoy that egg, whichever pullet laid it.

 

[Michael OShay]

If she is a pure Ancona, her eggs will be white. I would suggest posting a pic of her on our What Breed or Gender is This? section at https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/15/what-breed-or-gender-is-this and asking our experts there to ID her for you.

 

[Mahaliamcg]

Thanks everyone,
I'm not too worried about the whole 'whose eggs are these?' But I just wanted to know the answer when other people ask me.
I'm in Australia so I suppose my araucana could be in the green egg laying category (not that it bothers me- she's my friendliest chook)

I'll just try to keep an eye out today while I'm home to see who isn't outside with the others to find out who is laying

Thanks

 

[Michael OShay]

Thanks everyone,
I'm not too worried about the whole 'whose eggs are these?' But I just wanted to know the answer when other people ask me.
I'm in Australia so I suppose my araucana could be in the green egg laying category (not that it bothers me- she's my friendliest chook)

I'll just try to keep an eye out today while I'm home to see who isn't outside with the others to find out who is laying

Thanks

You're welcome.

 

[Mahaliamcg]

Thanks everyone for your advice,
my egg questions have been answered! it turns out that the eggs aren't coming from my ancona at all! they're coming in thick and fast every day from my 'orpington' which I'm thinking is a cross between an orpington and maybe a leghorn.
the eggs are delicious!
anyway, hopefully soon the other 5 girls will start laying, and we'll have eggs galore!