Health Tech

What Is The Secret Of The Blue Egg, Which Doctors Are Investigating

Just like the family members of a house eagerly wait for the birth of a child, similarly a team of veterinarians in a village of Karnataka is waiting for a hen to lay an egg. It sounds strange that veterinarians are waiting for a hen to lay an egg. But this hen is also unusual. This hen surprised its owner when it reportedly laid a ‘blue egg’. Yes, a blue egg. Syed Noor, who works in the construction industry, told BBC Hindi, “It was bought as a small chick two years ago. On Saturday, it laid a white egg like it has been laying every day for the last two years. On Monday, it laid a blue egg.”

Do birds of any breed lay blue eggs?

Ordinary hens, which are of Aseel breed (Asian breed), lay eggs for 10 days continuously. After this, she does not lay eggs for about fifteen days. But Noor claims that his hen has “laid an egg every day for the last two years.” The news of this unusual coloured egg started spreading in the area, after which many people started reaching Syed Noor’s house in Nellore village of Channagiri taluk in Davanagere district to see it. Mohammad Nadeem Feroz is a former professor of poultry science at Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries University. He said, “It is difficult to believe this.”

The main reason for his not believing this is that the colour of the egg is neither the usual white nor brown. It is also not black, which is given by the black hen of Kadaknath breed found in the forests of Madhya Pradesh. Professor Nadeem Feroz explains that generally there are four varieties of hens. Asian breeds (like the Aseel breed of chickens popular in India), English breeds (called Cornish), Middle Eastern breeds (called layers, these chickens lay white eggs) and American breeds. “There are about 10 to 15 birds like the myna that lay blue eggs,” says Dr Ashok Kumar GB, assistant director, animal husbandry and veterinary science department, Channagiri taluk in Davanagere district. “But this blue egg is a rare case, it is unusual in India,” he says.

Doctors are investigating

Dr Ashok says, “Chickens of this breed lay 100 to 126 eggs in a year. These chickens lay one egg every day for 10 days and then do not lay eggs for the next fifteen days. After this, they lay one egg every day for 15 days.”

“We are monitoring this hen and will send a report to the department officials. A bile pigment (a kind of bile) is released from the liver present in the body, which is called biliverdin. It is possible that it has been released in large quantity and has come and settled on the egg shell.”

“To confirm this, we will have to investigate again and again and it is necessary that this hen lays the egg in front of us. Only then can we confirm anything and send its blood and shell for testing. We will have to find out why and how the color of the egg shell became blue.”

Dr Ashok said, “We have asked the concerned doctor to keep this hen under observation. But we will be able to investigate only when it lays a blue egg.” Until the answer to the question why the egg turned blue is found, Syed Noor has kept that “blue egg” in the fridge.

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