Over the years, we’ve gotten a little obsessed with chicken eggs. Not just the eating part, although that is obviously a bonus. What we’ve really been hunting for is eggs in as many colors of the rainbow as we can find. And over the years we’ve had hens that have laid interesting colors. Light brown, blue and green are common, but at one point we had Welsummers that laid terra-cotta-colored eggs and a Chocolate Maran that laid deep brown eggs the color of chocolate.  Just last year, we added a few hens who gave us something we’d been hoping for: a rich, gorgeous olive-green egg.  When all the hens are in peak laying season we get a true rainbow of eggs. 

But the other day, we collected the eggs and found something we had never seen before. A gray egg.

Not brown. Not blue. Not white. Not green. Gray. When Kim compared it to a colored pencil set, it was identical to the color Timberwolf. A henhouse mystery is afoot. Which hen did it? Was this some sort of rare egg color we had accidentally discovered? Had one of our chickens decided to branch out artistically and help us in our quest for eggs in every color?

We had no idea. Mystery unsolved, we left the gray egg sitting on the counter. It was just too interesting to become part of an omelet. We sort of decided it must just be an anomaly where a hen didn’t create the proper pigment. But then a little research cracked the case.  It turns out the egg wasn’t actually gray at all. Newly laid eggs have what is called a bloom on them. It is a natural protective coating that keeps germs and bacteria out. It’s why we can leave our eggs on the kitchen counter and not store them in the refrigerator. In this unique case, the hen laid an olive-green egg with an extra heavy bloom. The thickness of that protective layer caused an aberration in color that made it look grey. A quick wash and the grey disappeared immediately.  Mystery solved. 

Which is a little disappointing. It would be fun to have discovered a new line of chickens that would lay such an interestingly colored egg, though I have a feeling gray eggs wouldn’t be a big seller. 

Honestly, it is just fun to be surprised every now and then! You never quite know what you’re going to find in the nesting box or in the garden – and I think that is what keeps us coming back.