Are my eggs ok to eat?

[MindiWynne]

My hens have been sick and I am working on fixing that issue, but lately the eggs I have gotten have been covered in thick, sticky goo. It makes the straw and everything stick to them and they are sticky to the touch. I have tried to wash them but its really hard to get off - kinda like dried snot (sorry, don't mean to be gross). My husband and I were concerned that even though the eggs seem fine on the inside, and the shells are the right shape, color, hardness et al. are the eggs safe for us to eat?

 

[K3nzi3]

I would probably err on the safe side, and not consume the eggs. I would wait until your hens are feeling better, and there is no goo on the eggs.

 

[Welshies]

I wouldn't consume those eggs. Why are your hens sick? What have you been feeding them?

 

[Blooie]

Look for tiny bits of egg shells and the same slime stuff in the nest and whatever you are using in the next box for a surface, like hay or pine shavings. They might be hard to spot, so look really well. I'll bet that what you are getting is egg white from a broken egg on the outside of eggs laid. This can be a couple of things - you have an egg eater who gets in there, breaks open an egg and makes the mess on the other eggs in the box while enjoying her treat; you have one overzealous layer who breaks eggs in her enthusiasm to lay (my Brahma was notorious for smashing eggs under that behemoth body of hers while she settled in to lay); or you may have one laying soft shelled eggs that can't take the weight of the next hen to come into the nest and it bursts.

Before I would start digging real deep into some exotic or serious issue, I'd always look for the simple and obvious first. If indeed that's egg on the outside of the shells, you can wash the egg with plain water, dry it well, refrigerate it and use it as if nothing had happened.

 

[MindiWynne]

I wouldn't consume those eggs. Why are your hens sick? What have you been feeding them?

A couple of them had a respiratory issue, then I had two with vent gleet and one died from a prolapsed vent (the others pecked her badly before I found her). They are being treated for the respiratory issues and I have added ACV and yogurt to their diets, but was not sure about the eggs

 

[Blooie]

I read it, I saw it, and yet I still forgot almost instantly the first line of your post about your girls having been sick. <sigh>. Another senior moment for me! Now that my memory has been jogged, I have to agree that I’d hold off with eating those eggs as well, although you could still check to make sure it’s not just broken egg.