Why is my egg white

[WOoHOo]

I have brown egg laying chickens. Nothing but brown I've collected for months and months now. The other day I had a white egg amongst the brown. The white egg was alone in its nest covered in egg yolk. There was no sign of a broken egg anywhere to explain the yolk. What do you think happened?

I have 6 Rhode Island Reds and 1 black and grey spotted ( I dont know her breed)

 

[Posh Chickens]

Hi, welcome to byc!!!!

Basically I've had this a couple of times. The egg shell may have been very weak which shows that the chicken that laid that egg hadn't had enough grit. I have been told that chickens often eat the weak shell if it is weak, leaving behind a bit of yolk (which they sometimes eat)..

 

[WOoHOo]

OK, but what about the white. How does a white egg come from brown egg laying birds.

 

[debid]

I'd presume that there was a glitch in the process. An egg was rushed through and didn't get its brown coating (brown eggs are white eggs with a brown coating applied at the end of the process). Then, a soft shelled egg (or even one without a shell) followed. I wouldn't worry unless it continues.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'd presume that there was a glitch in the process. An egg was rushed through and didn't get its brown coating (brown eggs are white eggs with a brown coating applied at the end of the process). Then, a soft shelled egg (or even one without a shell) followed. I wouldn't worry unless it continues.

I totally agree with this.

Something you might watch for. The longer a brown egg laying hen lays, the lighter her eggs often get. How much you see this depends on what she is eating, but when a brown egg laying hen molts and stops laying, she stores up pigment to color the egg shell. As she lays that pigment can get used up.

I’ve had a hen that lays a fairly dark brown egg right after a molt lay an egg that is pretty close to white just before a molt. You’ll notice a pullets first eggs or a hen that has just started laying after a molt have some really pretty brown eggs.

If this is a one-off, what Debid said is what I’d go with. If the eggs are gradually getting lighter and you just noticed it, it may be due to the pigment getting used up.

Also don’t worry about the soft shelled egg unless it becomes a normal process. What sometimes happens is that the hen’s internal egg laying factory screws up. She starts a yolk when she is not supposed to. That second yolk goes through her system but the shell gland does not have enough time to make enough shell material for a second egg. It used all it had on the first egg.

It could be something totally different for any of this, but these are fairly common occurrences.

 

[WOoHOo]

Thanks to both of you. I have been watching my chickens closer than usual thinking I was going to see one start dieing on me. Now I can ease off the chicken watching some and get back to my housework, oh joy. lol