We're having a little heat wave these past few days. Which is common here in the fall. We call it our Indian Summer. But this one came on very suddenly and it's been super hot, close to 100 degrees. And none of my girls like the heat.
I've been putting ice in their water and giving them cool fruit to eat. I was worried about getting soft shelled eggs from giving them too many cool treats. (It's happened before.) But instead, I came home to this today. A nearly white egg.
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| Coco's normal brown spotted egg is on the right. Today's bizarre white egg is on the left. |
The egg was in Coco's nest and none of the other hens typically lays in Coco's nest. She's my alpha hen and rules the roost. She's also a Jersey Giant and being such a big girl, she is the only one that fits in that nest. At least when she's in it.
It has some small spots on it and Coco is known to decorate her egg with spots. So I'm pretty sure it's hers. And I've read that the color is the very last layer that hens put on eggs before they lay them. So I'm thinking that it was so hot that she just decided to lay the egg and skip the color today. Odd to think that they can do that. But it's amazing what their bodies will do as a survival instinct.
Tomorrow should be cooler. Hopefully, we'll all get back to normal. If I get more of these, I'll be sure to post photos.
Is it chalky the outside? Sometimes my girls will lay an egg with a chalky layer over it. Like a layer of calcium. If you crack it open the inside of the shell would be the regular brown.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what causes it. Maybe an abundance of calcium in the "conveyor belt"
That is amazing!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beauty! Do keep us posted!
ReplyDelete@ Rugosrosefarm - Interest. I'll have to crack it open and see. It doesn't feel chalky and I'd have trouble believing they are getting too much calcium as they are ALL on chick chow right now till the babies get ready to lay. I of course have out oyster shell and put out crushed egg shells. And I do feed the layers some treats with liquid calcium on them once or twice a week to make sure they are getting enough. Today is much cooler and I'll bet she takes today off as she laid late yesterday so tomorrow, lets see what she does.
ReplyDeleteReally interested to see what she does next. They can be so full of surprises. They never cease to amaze me. That sure was a beautiful egg, do let us know what it's like inside.
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