Sometimes Coturnix quail lay an oddity of an egg in an unusual color. Here are pictures of some of the weird quail eggs our covey has laid:
Weird Quail Eggs
You never know what you’re going to get from these sweet little birds. Since most of my covey are celadon (blue) layers, I get a range of really interesting weird quail eggs!
Moon Rocks
One of my celadon hens lays an egg with a rough, chalky surface that is unusual. Most of the time the shell is coated in scratchy gray grains but sometimes the gray is absent, revealing a pretty speckled mint celadon shell. I euphemistically call these eggs ‘moon rocks’.
Moon Rock Eggs Do NOT Hatch
Occasionally you may run into someone offering these types of eggs for sale for hatching. I have never had one hatch. The hens that lay these types of eggs seem to have a genetic issue with how her body makes the shell. The shells are thin and brittle, prone to having micro-fractures all through them. When incubated, the egg yolk inside very quickly dries out as moisture escapes rapidly through the cracks in the thin shell.
Some of these eggs are in various pictures on my website and while they are interesting, it is not good to breed forward this type of laying hen.
If you find someone selling only moon rock hatching eggs as a ‘new color’ or type of novelty, be aware that your hatch rates will likely be zero.
Olive Egger…Quail?
One of my Scarlet hens lays speckled green eggs. They aren’t mostly blue; they are flat-out green. I joke that she is an ‘olive egger’ quail. She is bred to celadon roos in the hope I can keep that shade coming in her offspring.
Unusual Colors
Quail sometimes lay a one-off egg that is uniquely strange. There is usually a dietary explanation for this but they are still interesting to see!
Strange Patterns
Variations in Speckling
You’ll notice each hen lays her own uniquely speckled egg. Some have light speckling, some have heavy spots, and some seem to be speckled in light khaki tones. Here are some interesting examples:
Vibrant Robin’s Egg Blue
One of the most difficult colors to breed for is the “impossible” robin’s egg blue. Some individuals are getting close, laying very richly colored turquoise eggs. They look remarkably like wild bird eggs and are desirable, both for breeding and crafting.
Purple Heavy Bloom Quail Eggs?
One of my quail hens lays heavy bloom eggs that often look purple. You can learn more about these colored egg layers in my article on colored egg laying Coturnix quail.
Duzie says
I just happened to find your site. It is so informative. I just started raising quail and the newest hatch I have some cool colors and didn’t know what they were. Thanks to you I now know. Great pictures and easy to understand the info.
Alex says
Hi! I just finished today egg collect and i happened to find two of those moon rock eggs, actually i own 3 laying hens and I’m quite worried if this kind of egg could harm them un any way, i would really apreciate if you could answer to my question, and, by the way, your site is really cute and informative 🙂 best wishes for you and your flock!
Tay Silver says
Hi Alex!
I don’t know why some quail hens lay the moon rock eggs but it does seem to be a lower quality egg, meaning the eggs need to be used almost immediately. The hens that lay them tend to live regular length lives of around 18 months so while I believe the egg shell texture to be caused by some sort of bodily issue, the issue does not seem to be highly fatal. The only catch is that the moon rock eggs are usually not hatchable – too much moisture escapes from them during incubation and they dehydrate in a day or two before a chick can fully develop. (This is kind of handy because then you won’t breed this flaw forward into your covey’s genetics.) I hope this helps!
Glenda says
What about lavender or solid brown from a coturnix?
Tay Silver says
I’m not aware of any Coturnix quail that lay lavender eggs. Solid brown could be possible from a hen with a heavy speckled overlay that coats the entire egg with more of a solid color rather than speckles. (One of my quail laid an egg that was heavily coated like this but it was still not solid brown.) Some quail lay “moon rock” eggs in grayish colors. They have a rough texture and do not hatch because the shells are far too porous – the embryo dries out in the incubator after 3 days, never developing. If you see these eggs for sale, even if they look lavender, I’m sorry to say that they are a scam because they won’t hatch.