In a rare and surprising occurrence, a hen has laid a blue egg in India, baffling both locals and animal husbandry experts, 24NewsHD TV reported.
The bird, owned by a farmer in Karnataka’s Davanagere district, Syed Noor, was known for being a reliable layer of white eggs.
However, when it recently produced a distinctly blue egg, it quickly became the talk of the village and beyond.
Noor, who had bought the hen from a trader two years ago, kept the blue egg as it was.
People are coming in droves to see this rare egg.“I have 10 hens. I feed them all the same food, and they lay white or yellow eggs. This is the first time I got a blue egg,” says Noor.
Dr. Ashok, Assistant Director of the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services Department, was equally surprised.
He said, “I have seen greenish-yellow eggs laid. This hen has laid a blue egg that surprised me. Hens rarely lay eggs like this. It could be because of a pigment called biliverdin in the hen’s pancreas,” he said.
Noor’s friend Hafeez said, “This hen was known for its daily white egg. Noor bought this hen from a trader for ₹20 two years ago, and it lays white eggs.”
“Two days ago, it laid a blue egg. Its colour is surprising. I have never seen or heard of a blue egg in my life,” says Hafeez.
Veterinary Officer Dr. Raghu Nayak said that the main reason for the blue colour of these eggs is pigmentation. When this biliverdin pigment changes, the outer layer of the egg turns blue.
"Sometimes it comes from a genetic problem. There is also a possibility of this happening when there is a problem with the food consumed," he said.
Noor said he had taken a photo with the egg. "Now it is all over the news. I don’t even know how it happened," wonders Noor.
Blue eggs are laid by the Araucana hen of Chile, South America, and by the Whiting True Blue Chicken hybrid, created in the 1990s by a US poultry geneticist for this purpose.