Weird Egg Smell

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Joellen71

Joellen71

In the Brooder
Jun 18, 2015
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OK, this is gong to sound crazy. I noticed today that some eggs in the fridge smell like freshly hatched chicks! I noticed that smell when my broody hen hatched several chicks last summer. It's hard to describe...but it makes me think of blood or something. The chicks smelled like it for a day or so, and the egg shell that they hatched from smelled like it.
Anyway, I thought the eggs in the fridge must be old. i did the float test and they passed. Then I smelled some eggs laid today...they smelled exactly the same! It's gross! I never noticed store bought eggs smelling like that! Could it be because they're fertilized?
I'm freaking out a little because I just started selling the eggs and I'm afraid my customers will be put off by the smell.
 
I always think newly hatched eggs smell kinda like chicken terriaki.

That being said, I'm unsure why your eggs are smelling funny! Any chance you're feeding them table scraps with a lot of onion or garlic? Any changes in diet recently?
 
not really any change...the hatched eggs smelled just like this last year. Maybe the fresh eggs have always smelled like this and I never noticed before. I cracked one in a bowl and left it a couple of minutes, and came back and smelled it again...it just smelled like egg.
 
Maybe have someone else with a good sense of smell sniff them and see if they detect anything weird? I can't say I've ever smelled my eggs to see if there was an odor...
 
rosemarythyme said:
Maybe have someone else with a good sense of smell sniff them and see if they detect anything weird? I can't say I've ever smelled my eggs to see if there was an odor...
Click to expand...
....or just have a couple other people smell them....OP may have the super sniffer and picks up odors that others don't.
 
my daughter noticed the smell too. She thinks it smells like plastic. But maybe she inherited my super-smelling superpowers. lol

But I pulled the same eggs out of the fridge today and they didn't smell anymore. I'm thinking maybe they only smell when they warm up a little.
 
It does make sense that if something doesn't smell a certain way when cold, that that could change if it was warmed up. Perfumes work the same way, they smell stronger and (sometimes slightly different) when warmed. Though it's interesting your daughter described the eggs as smelling "plastic" - maybe you do both have super sniffers but the scent smells different to each of you.

I have to do all the sniff tests in my house, my husband can't smell anything short of a perfume section in a department store! I feel like a bloodhound sometimes, slowly walking around the house, sniffing if I sensed there was something off.

I used to sniff my pet rats because they smelled like pretzels.
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Pretzel rats! lol

I guess my nose is kind of sensitive. All I know is that newly hatched chick smell grosses me out, especially if I'm trying to eat an egg!
 
I definitely wouldn't want to be thinking about newly hatched chicks while trying to eat eggs. In the same way I wouldn't want to smell free roaming chickens (mmm, poop) if I had roasted chicken for dinner. Sure they're related, but it's not at all appetizing.

But if no one else smells what you're smelling with the eggs, I think you're fine then. Next time I have a warm, recently laid egg I'll have to sniff it and see if I detect anything.

(And pretzel rats (aka females) really are addictive to sniff! They smell like fresh baked bread. I don't think most people notice it. But then again, how many people go around sniffing their pets?
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So I sniffed several of my eggs today, all laid this morning (including one that was literally a minute old) and they smell... vaguely barnyard-y? Like straw and grass and outdoors. Nothing strong or offputting to me.
 

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