What Chickens Lay Speckled Eggs?

If you are raising a lot of different breeds of chickens and noticed that some of the eggs they laid were speckled, what chicken in that group would be laying those speckled eggs?

In this article, we will find out what chickens lay speckled eggs and why they are like that.

What Kind of Chicken Lays a Speckled Egg?

A speckled egg is a chicken egg that has a speckled shell. It can be caused by the hen’s diet, like eating too much iron or other minerals. The speckling may also be caused by a genetic trait.

Some breeds of chickens are known to lay speckled eggs, including:

Ameraucana – This breed lays blue eggs with dark green speckles on them. They’re good layers and have calm personalities. They’re not very active birds and they don’t need much space in their coop or run because they’re content staying close together as long as they have plenty of food and water available at all times.

Blue Copper Marans – The Blue Copper Marans is a breed that produces large brown eggs with orange-red spots all over them when hens are fully mature (around 20 weeks old).

Leghorn – For more than 100 years, Leghorns have been bred for rapid growth and high production in commercial settings. Their eggs come in shades ranging from deep brown to pale blue-green, and they’re known for their deep orange yolks.

Rhode Island Red – Rhode Island Reds are one of the most popular meat breeds because they produce large broods of large chickens that grow quickly and produce lots of meat per pound (when compared to other breeds). These birds are red with white feathers and black legs, tail feathers, and beaks. Their eggs are brown in color that are speckled.

What Kind of Egg Is Speckled?

A speckled egg is any egg that has a brown or tan blotch on the shell. The coloration is caused by a blood spot inside the egg, which appears as a red or pink ring around the yolk. Also known as blood ring, blood ringed, and speckled, this type of egg is not uncommon and occurs in most types of hens’ eggs.

Speckled eggs are caused by a blood spot in the white portion of the egg. If a hen’s reproductive tract becomes damaged when she lays an egg, her body releases extra blood into the white part of the albumen (egg white). This causes it to appear speckled or spotted on the outside surface of the shell. While this happens occasionally in all types of hens’ eggs, it can be more common in certain breeds such as Leghorns or Wyandottes.

Why Are Some Eggs Speckled?

Eggs are laid by chickens, which are birds of the order Galliformes. The chicken, or Gallus gallus domesticus, is a subspecies of the red junglefowl (Gallus gallus).

The color and pattern of an eggshell are determined by two factors: pigmentation and structure. Pigmentation determines what color the egg will be when it’s first laid. Structure determines how shiny or dull it will be.

Is It Safe to Eat a Speckled Egg?

Eating a speckled egg is safe. It’s just an egg with a few tiny spots on its shell. The spots are caused by something called “blood spot.”

Blood spot results from a small blood vessel that ruptures when the egg is forming in the hen’s reproductive tract (oviduct). Once the egg is laid, the blood coagulates and forms a dark spot on the shell.

If you look closely at your eggs, you may see these tiny spots. They’re usually so faint that they’re hard to see unless you look very closely or have good eyesight.

Blood spots are more common in brown eggs than white eggs because brown-shelled eggs take longer to develop inside the hen’s body than do white-shelled eggs. It takes about 24 hours for an egg to form inside a hen’s reproductive tract, but it can take up to 30 hours for a brown-shelled egg to be formed fully. During this time, oxygen levels are lower than normal, which increases the chances of blood vessel rupture during the formation of the shell.

Are Bumpy Eggs the Same as Speckled?

Bumpy eggs are not the same as speckled eggs. Both of these eggs have two different types of shell markings.

Bumpy eggs are laid by hens that have a vitamin B12 deficiency. The bumps on the eggshells are caused by the way that the hen’s body reacts to a lack of this vitamin. The bumps are called “nutritional” or “waxy” bumps, and they form when a hen’s body produces too much of a substance called keratin. This is often due to a lack of vitamin B12 or folic acid in her diet, although it can also be caused by other factors such as stress or disease.

Vitamin B12 is important for healthy growth and development in chickens, so if they don’t get enough it can cause health problems such as decreased egg production and fertility problems in both hens and roosters. It’s also important for maintaining the health of their nervous system and preventing anemia (low red blood cell count).

In addition to nutritional bumps on their eggs, hens with this condition may show other symptoms such as:

  • Lethargy (tiredness)
  • Slow growth rate
  • Poor feather quality

In Summary

Some people are curious about why chickens lay speckled eggs, and there are two main reasons why. First, some chicken breeds produce colored eggs naturally. Secondly, the breed of chicken can determine what color eggs it produces.

Therefore, if you are raising Ameraucana, Blue Copper Marans, Leghorn, or Rhode Island Red, you can expect them to lay speckled eggs.