"Green" bloom after 7 years of white eggs!

[KaleIAm]

My dark khaki campbell duck, Nettle, suddenly layed a rather green-ish shelled egg after her entire reproductive career of slightly off white eggs. She is almost 7.5 years old, though she was a pond rescue and so her exact age and breed could be off slightly. I know some ducks have colored blooms, but it seems odd to me that this egg would appear after so many years.

Has anybody else had this happen? Let me know if you've never heard of it, too!

Here's a photo. Nettle also gave me a very thin shelled egg, and I've consulted our vet and have her on calcium gluconate already. The Pigweed (my other duck) egg is for size and color reference. Pigweed's egg is negligibly larger than a normal chicken egg you would get at the store. Nettle's eggs are typically almost the color of Pigweed's, very slightly darker.

BTW, our avian vet recommended that I don't panic about the sudden eggshell color but that I just bring her in for our regularly scheduled appointment in a couple weeks. She has blood work planned for another issue and that should reveal any problems. I'm planning to do that, but still curious if this is an occasional duck thing or a Nettle thing.

Thanks!

 

[Dux]

My dark khaki campbell duck, Nettle, suddenly layed a rather green-ish shelled egg after her entire reproductive career of slightly off white eggs. She is almost 7.5 years old, though she was a pond rescue and so her exact age and breed could be off slightly. I know some ducks have colored blooms, but it seems odd to me that this egg would appear after so many years.

Has anybody else had this happen? Let me know if you've never heard of it, too!

Here's a photo. Nettle also gave me a very thin shelled egg, and I've consulted our vet and have her on calcium gluconate already. The Pigweed (my other duck) egg is for size and color reference. Pigweed's egg is negligibly larger than a normal chicken egg you would get at the store. Nettle's eggs are typically almost the color of Pigweed's, very slightly darker.

BTW, our avian vet recommended that I don't panic about the sudden eggshell color but that I just bring her in for our regularly scheduled appointment in a couple weeks. She has blood work planned for another issue and that should reveal any problems. I'm planning to do that, but still curious if this is an occasional duck thing or a Nettle thing.

Thanks!
View attachment 2663716

You've probably already thought of this but just in case, have you tried soaking the greenish egg in a mixture of white vinegar and water for 30 minutes or so and then scrubbing under warm water? Sometimes my ducks lay eggs that have a dirty-looking film on them that come off very easily that way. I guess what I'm wondering is whether the green color is all the way through the shell or just a thin layer on the outside. I'm impressed she's still laying at such an advanced age!

 

[KaleIAm]

You've probably already thought of this but just in case, have you tried soaking the greenish egg in a mixture of white vinegar and water for 30 minutes or so and then scrubbing under warm water? Sometimes my ducks lay eggs that have a dirty-looking film on them that come off very easily that way. I guess what I'm wondering is whether the green color is all the way through the shell or just a thin layer on the outside. I'm impressed she's still laying at such an advanced age!

I assume it will come off when washed, because I believe it is just bloom. My cayuga's eggs were sharpie black but I could wash off the black bloom quite easily with water and gentle rubbing. I haven't tried washing Nettle's green one, though. I'm pretty enamored with it, when I'm not being paranoid.

Have you heard of shells that are colored all the way through?

 

[416bigbore]

@KaleIAm It's very interesting that you bring this up, we have had a few duck eggs from time to time that looked like they were stained and not all white. I thought it was because the hen dropped the egg out in the muddy run on the ground and maybe the egg had been rolled around a bit for them to look that way.

No greenish looking eggs the color was more of a tannish to light brown stain on them so I thought it was from the muddy conditions doing that, maybe not?

Before I use any eggs I always first float them in cold water and then scrub them quickly with a green scrubby pad. The eggs that were slightly discolored never did turn all white, so I just figured they were stained from the mud.

It will be interesting as to what you find out and I will have to pay a little closer attention next time I pick up a dirty duck egg. Best of luck.

 

[Isadora]

I don't really know about the egg question, but I had to comment on the fact that you named one of your ducks Pigweed! It made me laugh.

 

[KaleIAm]

I don't really know about the egg question, but I had to comment on the fact that you named one of your ducks Pigweed! It made me laugh.

I love plants, so I named my ducks after local plants. Clover, Pigweed, Thimbleberry, Nettle, and Plantain. All the food has belonged to Pigweed ever since she was a tiny baby, so she got that name.

 

[HappyDuckie]

One of mine used to lay whitish eggs with a slightly green/blue bloom, but the other day she suddenly laid a BRIGHT blue egg. It’s not as vibrant in the picture, but it was brighter than my EEs eggs!

 

[KaleIAm]

@KaleIAm It's very interesting that you bring this up, we have had a few duck eggs from time to time that looked like they were stained and not all white. I thought it was because the hen dropped the egg out in the muddy run on the ground and maybe the egg had been rolled around a bit for them to look that way.

No greenish looking eggs the color was more of a tannish to light brown stain on them so I thought it was from the muddy conditions doing that, maybe not?

Before I use any eggs I always first float them in cold water and then scrub them quickly with a green scrubby pad. The eggs that were slightly discolored never did turn all white, so I just figured they were stained from the mud.

It will be interesting as to what you find out and I will have to pay a little closer attention next time I pick up a dirty duck egg. Best of luck.

Thank you!

One of mine used to lay whitish eggs with a slightly green/blue bloom, but the other day she suddenly laid a BRIGHT blue egg. It’s not as vibrant in the picture, but it was brighter than my EEs eggs! View attachment 2665220

Thank you! This is fascinating!

 

[HeatherKellyB]

My Pekin has always laid eggs with a bloom that has a slight greenish hue. Nothing like your duck but it's definitely greenish. I couldn't figure out who my layer was whenever they started in 2019. Soon after I found that my Buff Duck lays a white egg that's always a bit on the longer side and the greenish eggs are definitely from my Pekin, which I didn't expect.

 

[KaleIAm]

My Pekin has always laid eggs with a bloom that has a slight greenish hue. Nothing like your duck but it's definitely greenish. I couldn't figure out who my layer was whenever they started in 2019. Soon after I found that my Buff Duck lays a white egg that's always a bit on the longer side and the greenish eggs are definitely from my Pekin, which I didn't expect.

That is odd!

Nettle has always had oddly shaped eggs. The point is off centered and the shell isn't consistently thick. The vet says she has a defective shell gland. I'm wondering if part of her errors is that this time she just put down a crazy thick bloom. She did just have a normal for her egg, slightly off white with a shell. Maybe her slightly off white bloom is actually green but so thin it isn't detectable.