There’s no crime here, folks, but there is a bit of a mystery. Let’s call it the Case of the Speckled Egg.
Our trio of hens have been laying two to three eggs daily, for the most part. So we’re getting upwards of a dozen eggs per week, almost all of which have been a solid and uniform light brown color, with no markings.
Last week, though, a lightly speckled egg turned up in one of the nest boxes, followed a few days later by another one fitting the same description. Both eggs were the standard light brown, but with small dark spots all around the shell.
There’s nothing wrong with speckled eggs, which are perfectly safe to eat and quite lovely to look at. But their sporadic appearance leaves me posing questions for which I have no answers.
What triggers the occasional dotted egg? Is diet a factor? Did one of the hens, in her ceaseless pecking, dig up some rare but tasty morsel that caused a hiccup in the egg-production apparatus?
And who’s laying the artsy eggs? Did the same hen produce both of the speckled eggs that have turned up so far? Or are two different hens experiencing whatever it is that gets the ink jets plowing? Perhaps a trip to 221B Baker St. is in order.
Our trio of hens have been laying two to three eggs daily, for the most part. So we’re getting upwards of a dozen eggs per week, almost all of which have been a solid and uniform light brown color, with no markings.
Last week, though, a lightly speckled egg turned up in one of the nest boxes, followed a few days later by another one fitting the same description. Both eggs were the standard light brown, but with small dark spots all around the shell.
There’s nothing wrong with speckled eggs, which are perfectly safe to eat and quite lovely to look at. But their sporadic appearance leaves me posing questions for which I have no answers.
What triggers the occasional dotted egg? Is diet a factor? Did one of the hens, in her ceaseless pecking, dig up some rare but tasty morsel that caused a hiccup in the egg-production apparatus?
And who’s laying the artsy eggs? Did the same hen produce both of the speckled eggs that have turned up so far? Or are two different hens experiencing whatever it is that gets the ink jets plowing? Perhaps a trip to 221B Baker St. is in order.
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