Why is my brown egg white?!

[2fathens]

I have a RIR and she always lays brown eggs. Today she laid one that looks like this...normal? Or does it mean something is wrong? It almost looks like it was a brown egg but the whole outside is speckled and covered in white (Left is what she normally lays right is today's egg)

 

[Free Spirit]

Hello and Welcome to BYC

There are a few possibilities. Here is a chart of common egg quality problems from the BYC Learning Center
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/common-egg-quality-problems

Since I can't really tell all that well from the picture it could be either:
1. White banded egg
7. Lack of pigment or uneven pigmentation on egg shells
8. Calcium coated egg

Read the description of each of these to get it narrowed down.

 

[rbruno]

I was going to ask a similar question so I will jump on this thread. My hens have just started to lay and getting more steady at production. I was getting very uniform brown eggs and then I got one with a little different color, smaller, a few dark speckles. So, I figured one of the other hens and just started to lay. Yesterday I got an egg that was completely white speckled. I figured this was a third hen starting to produce. It look like it was originally a brown egg and someone had splattered it with white paint so that is was almost all white, but could still see the brown in the background. Anyway, it was a little dirty so I decided to wash it off. Well, when the egg was wet, the white speckles disappeared and it was an entire brown egg. However, when the egg dried, the white speckles came back. Anyone have any suggestions on that one?
Rob

 

[2fathens]

yes rbruno! I just tried that out (wetting the egg) and the same exact thing happened. The only thing that I can think of is that she laid it right before bed and since it was cold last night (20*) that it turned white because of the cold? was yours exposed to any temperature changes? She isnt sick, feed hasnt changed, and shes 2 years old so i cant imagine its age since our chickens seems to have such an age gap.

 

[Caleb999]

Could it be excess calcium on the egg? That can happen when chickens are stressed. Weird

 

[aart]

Excess calcium.
Deficient pigment.....'spray booth' glitch.
Excess bloom.

None are unusual in new layers or occasionally in older layers.

 

[2fathens]

She did it again. She seems to be laying every other day now so maybe there's excess bloom like you said? Regardless of what it is, are the eggs safe to eat?

 

[Free Spirit]

She did it again. She seems to be laying every other day now so maybe there's excess bloom like you said? Regardless of what it is, are the eggs safe to eat?

Yes

 

[rbruno]

Just catching up to this thread. 2fathens, my eggs are coming in the morning and they do stay overnight. It hasn't been that cold at my house. I do still get ones with the speckles that will disappear when wet. I have been getting 4 eggs from 4 hens in the morning so I know all are laying, but only one of them has these characteristics. My hens have only been laying for about three weeks. So, they just started and I have young hens. All a learning experience for me at this point. My hens all seem fine and happy.
Rob

 

[RiverHouseHens]

One of my Buff Orpingtons has laid two white eggs this week. She is still a pullet, but all of her previous eggs were brown with white speckles. She did lay two shell-less eggs or soft eggs and then the next two regular, hard shelled eggs were white. Here is her regular white speckled brown egg next to her white egg:


Here's a photo of her first white egg: