Why is my Hen laying this color egg?

[Shipgirl]

There is 1 hen that lays this color egg every time. It’s the only hen out of 20 or so that has this odd coloration.

Can someone tell me why her eggs are colored so oddly? Assuming it’s some sort of printing error, but it happens EVERY TIME. I’m hatching one. Just because

 

[Debbie292d]

I have no idea and just looked up egg issues. A site lists 20 eggshell quality issues and yours isn't among them. Most of the time the problem was too much calcium, not enough calcium, or stress. Sorry I seem so unhelpful but hopefully it hatches!

Edit: I found a thread here and your egg IS in there! #8 I think

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

 

[Shipgirl]

I have no idea and just looked up egg issues. A site lists 20 eggshell quality issues and yours isn't among them. Most of the time the problem was too much calcium, not enough calcium, or stress. Sorry I seem so unhelpful but hopefully it hatches!

Edit: I found a thread here and your egg IS in there! #8 I think

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

Calcium issues is what I thought at first. But she eats the same as all the others and there are no other problem eggs.

 

[Shipgirl]

The lighter brown is the base color I think. And the dark splotches are more what I thought were excess… something.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

It's uneven pigmentation, but I don't know why. I'll read the article, this is interesting..

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Is she an Olive Egger? Mine has the same problem. It's something to do with the pigment. When the egg is wet, the top layer is easy to wipe off, thus giving it that strange look. She lays it, then she or others step on it, it gets rolled around in the bedding by her or others, or it just gets wiped off when she lays it. When the egg is dry, the pigment is fine, but you wet the egg down and wipe it off with a paper towel, you'll see the pigment on the paper towel.
The pigment is usually brown when I wipe it off my OE's eggs. If you've noticed, it's the brown pigment that's on the outside and the blue is on the inside. (Crack the egg open and see the blue inside.)

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Great article, fascinating read! I got lost in there for a bit.

 

[Shipgirl]

This is the response I received on another site. It seems to make the most sense.

“Reproductive tract disease or disorder of some kind. The surface of the shell mirrors the inside of the oviduct. Some parts of her oviduct aren't functioning well enough to evenly distribute pigmentation. It looks like mostly a motility (peristalsis) problem, she's retaining eggs too long. But it's weirdly patchy too like only some sections of the oviduct have normal expression of pigment.”

 

[GirlsHuntToo]

This is the response I received on another site. It seems to make the most sense.

“Reproductive tract disease or disorder of some kind. The surface of the shell mirrors the inside of the oviduct. Some parts of her oviduct aren't functioning well enough to evenly distribute pigmentation. It looks like mostly a motility (peristalsis) problem, she's retaining eggs too long. But it's weirdly patchy too like only some sections of the oviduct have normal expression of pigment.”

This - To be as simple as possible her printer is messed up. There could possibly be a deformity inside her oviduct that causes this to happen. What breed is she and has she always done this or just started recently??

 

[Liz Birdlover]

I have a variety of hens laying a variety of colors. Sometimes, they look speckled or mottled, and it is the medium to dark brown ones that will once in awhile have a discoloration effect. As I gently wash & crate eggs for market, most times those few speckled or color variations will come right off. I really don't know if it might be during the last coat of egg shell formation, or if it might be related to the hen's bloom. Yesterday morning, I got a really interesting looking egg...like my hen was trying to copy a marble design. Like yours, my hens all eat a well balanced diet & are happy & healthy, so it is a mystery to me, but as long as the hens are healthy & the eggs are awesome, I'm not worried about it. Here are a few pics. You see the 1 marble looking egg I'm holding?