[jimroden]

Hello all
One of the chooks is laying a specked shell it is light brown ( Normal ) But with white specles on that has been going on for a bout two week's. is there somthing missing out the diet or is it just one of those things

Jim

[shiatsusu]

We've got the same thing, although it isn't everyday. I haven't been able to find info on it so would be interested in everyone's thoughts too 

[Vember]

Are the speckles of white raised like little nobbles or as the shell?
If they are raised then it could be extra calcium deposits - I get this from a couple of my older girls every so often.

Rob has put a link in the following thread to an article by Katie Thear about egg colour

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=31134.msg373079#msg373079

Sarah

[jimroden]

We've got the same thing, although it isn't everyday. I haven't been able to find info on it so would be interested in everyone's thoughts too 

no all are smooth i will try and take a photo

jim

[Foxy]

We've got the same thing, although it isn't everyday. I haven't been able to find info on it so would be interested in everyone's thoughts too 

no all are smooth i will try and take a photo

jim

It could be that the pigment -added to the shell,which has been laid unevenly

[shiatsusu]

Ours aren't bumpy lumps. Some days the top is speckled white, the next day the whole egg is lovely uniform brown.   

[mrs.ploppy]

This can be normal for eggs to look like this and it can vary from day to day and hen to hen.  I can usually tell who layed what from the collour and type of speckling on the egg.  There can be quite a variation.  As long as the speckles are not bumpy and raised then this is normal.  Changes can occur through age and development of the hen in my experience.  Just the laying down of pigmentation.

[shiatsusu]

We only have one laying at the mo so it's always same hen, but she's only been laying a few weeks so I think the maturing thing is probably pertinent- also perhaps changes in diet? Here's a pic of two of her eggs laid on consecutive days, one very speckled the other barely speckled at all -

[mrs.ploppy]

See, totally normal.  It's the yummy bit inside that's important!!

[shiatsusu]

Amazing how different they can be tho Mrs P- does it settle down to something more uniform in your experience? Last time I kept chooks was years ago and I was a small person then so can't remember! 

[Brambles]

My Ex Batt, Bertha, gave me eggs with lumpy ended shells last year.   She has been laying again for a few weeks now, and her eggs are smooth as silk (tasty too!!)  Wondered if, as I only got her last summer from local farm and she was in a barn all day, if her diet and fresh air has made better shells!

[mrs.ploppy]

I think yes it does tend to.  Each colouration seems to be unique to each hen although you can get the odd egg now and again.  Some have lumps and bumps or just a bit misshaped.  you will not see these in the shops though as these are usually kept for the commercial catering or production of food stuff at a low price. Thats why we hobby people find them so strange but they do exist.  As long as your hen does not show any adverse effects from laying the odd shapped egg I would not worry at all.  Like I said, it's whats inside that counts.

My boyfriend says the speckles are 'where they have decorating and made a mess'.