My EEs egg color changed from blue to brown!

[CMV]

ERnoleGuy thanks for the explanation. It makes sense. Interesting discussion.

 

[cornwell]

Hi, hardboiled,

I think the egg colour could also have changed because of a change of diet. if I read you right you´re the new owner of your hen, so that´s why I guess you´re simply feeding a different diet.
some of my relatives own farms and I interviewed my favourite uncle (69) about that phenomen and though he admits he had never seen it happen before but he knows it´s possible (his vet told him so). the more protein you feed the darker the shells can get. another phenomen might as well appear sooner or later, so just in case I´d rather give you an early “warning”: too much protein can change the usual yellow colour of the yolk into a dark, bloodlike red. the egg will still be perfectly okay, mind you.

hope, to have been of some help,
cheers, cornwell

 

[Happy Chooks]

I find this discussion very interesting.

 

[pips&peeps]

Sorry Krys109uk but I think you are wrong. I read a research paper on blue eggs titled "A study on eggshell pigmentation: biliverdin in blue-shelled chickens". So all eggs start out white, and depending on the birds genetics, they would get a final "coat of paint" that was either/any shade of brown, blue, greenish... or just stay white. Brown color comes from protoporphyrin/hemeglobin and blue color comes from oocyanin/biliverdin. The greenish hues come from a mixing of the two. Both of which come are deposited 3-4 hours before egg laying in the egg gland.

Krys is not wrong, blue is not laid on later, it is the "whole" shell color. It starts out that way, that is why when you crack an easter egger, ameraucana or araucana egg the inside of the shell is blue or blueish green.

Brown is the only color that is laid on later.​

 

[Hardboiled]

Hey ERnoleGuy do you think one of those exogenous factors could be Wazine? She was wormed with it in the afternoon after she laid the second blue egg.

It looks like variants of piperazine are used in experiments involving biliverdin. Any idea what the effect is?

Pikachu wasn't so keen on me poking around for a switch, which I didn't find anyway. I think she's having fun watching me go

waiting for my colored eggs. I never knew chickens were such manipulative and vindictive little creatures.

 

[ERnoleGuy]

pips&peeps :

Sorry Krys109uk but I think you are wrong. I read a research paper on blue eggs titled "A study on eggshell pigmentation: biliverdin in blue-shelled chickens". So all eggs start out white, and depending on the birds genetics, they would get a final "coat of paint" that was either/any shade of brown, blue, greenish... or just stay white. Brown color comes from protoporphyrin/hemeglobin and blue color comes from oocyanin/biliverdin. The greenish hues come from a mixing of the two. Both of which come are deposited 3-4 hours before egg laying in the egg gland.

Krys is not wrong, blue is not laid on later, it is the "whole" shell color. It starts out that way, that is why when you crack an easter egger, ameraucana or araucana egg the inside of the shell is blue or blueish green.

Brown is the only color that is laid on later.​

To pips&peeps; Thank you for chiming in. None of my Ameraucanas have began laying yet so I couldn't check to verify for myself. Now I know. This theory was based on research papers I read only. The particular paper did say though that there was a statistically significant increase in biliverdin production within 3-4 hours of laying. So, without me being able to crack an Ameraucana egg open... let me ask you this: Is the outside of the shell more blue than the inside? I am assuming so, but hope you will be able to tell me from experience for sure. All of this info, however, makes this even MORE plausible in my opinion. So, Hardboiled... crack er open. Is the inside of that brown egg blueish? I am anxious to know.​

 

[chseeads]

Quote:
Ink cartridge ran out of blue.....

 

[ERnoleGuy]

Funny post above.

 

[pips&peeps]

Here are photos of three different eggs, brown, blue and a greener one. The greener one is greener because brown was added to the shell later.

All three eggs unbroken:

The inside and outside of the brown. Notice the lack of color on the inner shell which indicates brown laid on after formation.

This is the greener egg, notice color is bluer on the inside.

This is the blue egg, the color is more intense on the inside because the "bloom" has lightened the outside of the shell.

This simple test of cracking shells indicates that blue eggs start out blue, no color is added later. If the bird in question truely did have some sort of change egg color, the egg would be green as brown would have been laid on after blue.

Also I do not think that this would be a case of the bird being a "chimera" as chickens only have one working oviduct.

I truely believe this is a case of "operator error". Perhaps the other easter egger this person owns lays the blue egg. And, all chickens stand to lay their eggs, they can't get them out otherwise.

 

[kassy68]

Quote:
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There are other breeds which lay blue eggs (or green), such as Cream Legbars, Shetland chickens & others.

Dont thinks that is what they meant.. They are saying Ameracauana and Aracuanas etc will not change their egg colors.. HOWEVER EE"s are not pure

.. so both genes could be carried and therefore theres a funky color laying chicken..

Personally, its not my place to judge whether or not the eggs are from two hens.. But I do know when she says " SHE WATCHED HER LAY BOTH OF THEM" I have to go with the fact she "knows" whats she's talking about. Waiting to see what egg comes next

And yes.. some of us sit and watch our chickens all day.. I know which egg comes from my hens, for the first month of having them I got lucky and got to catch them all laying eggs..