Bright blue spots inside egg shell?

tardispilot

In the Brooder
Oct 17, 2020
4
19
18
Hey there, new poster here with a baffling issue. I have 4 young hens (2 barred rocks and 2 sapphire gems) and a rooster (unknown breed), with only one of the sapphire gems laying so far. My husband made breakfast this morning for himself and our 2 young children with some of our chicken's eggs. I was washing up the dishes afterwards and came across the egg shells in the sink with BRIGHT blue spots on the inside of the egg shells that you can kind of see from the outside. I asked him if he noticed anything weird when he was cooking and he said they looked normal. He's not super observant, but the blue is so vivid surely he would have seen it. It looks like someone took a blue marker and made polka dots in the shell. I can't find anything on Google, so I thought I'd ask here. I've attached photos.

The eggs are collected daily and stored unwashed at room temperature until I have enough to fill an egg carton. They are then washed with cool water and dried with a tea towel before storing in the fridge. We live in North Texas and have had pretty mild weather, so there's no major temperature fluctuations. I'm so confused and freaked out! I'm scared my kids are going to get sick :(
 

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@RainbowHen I'm not sure. The egg shells were at the bottom of the sink under the plates and the pan he used. I can't think of anything that would have been sprinkled or fallen on the eggs. Salt, maybe? :idunno

@Jak115 I was out for my morning run at the time he cooked them, so I didn't personally see the yolks. He said they looked, smelled, and tasted completely normal.

This is just so weird and I'm sure it has some simple explanation. I'm an anxious person, so I can't help but worry my kids and husband ate weird eggs or that there's something wrong with my hens :hmm
 
Would be good to know if the spots were there when he first opened the egg.
How long did shells sit in sink before you found them?

They are then washed with cool water and dried with a tea towel before storing in the fridge.
Not that this caused the spots but....

Eggs should be washed in 'water warmer than the egg'.

Simple physics, using colder water will cause the egg contents to contract, causing any 'germs' on exterior surface of egg shell to be pulled into the interior of egg thru the shell pores. Using warmer water will do the opposite.
 
@aart I know, right? I'm leaning towards maybe not, since he said they looked normal. Like I said though, he's not the most observant guy. They were in the sink about an hour and a half before I got to the dishes. I cracked open another egg and let the shell sit for awhile with no spots cropping up. So far, everyone seems OK with no tummy issues and the hen is acting normally.

The water temp makes sense. I'll amend my egg washing habits 👍
 
I have 4 young hens (2 barred rocks and 2 sapphire gems) and a rooster (unknown breed), with only one of the sapphire gems laying so far.
Hi there, hope you are enjoying BYC! :frow

Hubby would likely have noticed rottenness.. and they ate the eggs cooked.. so I probably wouldn't worry too much.

But I also would NOT let my guard down.. When I turn the brightness up on my screen and zoom in on that shell.. I can see all kinds of striations/micro-cracks.. so it very well could have been colonies of something starting to form... Consider NOT "washing" your eggs unless they actually have droppings on them.. Otherwise the outer bloom layer is a coating that protects the interior of the egg that you are RINSING off.

Unwashed eggs stored in the fridge are as fresh as store bought even 6 months later.. washing the bloom off allows faster gas exchange/evaporation.. store eggs that get washed usually get a thin mineral oil coating placed back on.

Thank you for sharing this with us.. I believe 100% that's a bacterial infiltration of some sort.. They use eggs to grow flu vaccines and all kinds of stuff just like that, think they said the membrane was the perfect medium (don't quote my limited memory of the exact details).. :pop
 
Hi there, hope you are enjoying BYC! :frow

Hubby would likely have noticed rottenness.. and they ate the eggs cooked.. so I probably wouldn't worry too much.

But I also would NOT let my guard down.. When I turn the brightness up on my screen and zoom in on that shell.. I can see all kinds of striations/micro-cracks.. so it very well could have been colonies of something starting to form... Consider NOT "washing" your eggs unless they actually have droppings on them.. Otherwise the outer bloom layer is a coating that protects the interior of the egg that you are RINSING off.

Unwashed eggs stored in the fridge are as fresh as store bought even 6 months later.. washing the bloom off allows faster gas exchange/evaporation.. store eggs that get washed usually get a thin mineral oil coating placed back on.

Thank you for sharing this with us.. I believe 100% that's a bacterial infiltration of some sort.. They use eggs to grow flu vaccines and all kinds of stuff just like that, think they said the membrane was the perfect medium (don't quote my limited memory of the exact details).. :pop
When you go to cook your eggs do you wash them at all? Or just go ahead and get crackin with the unwashed ones?
 

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