Egg OK to use?

[Ballerina Bird]

This egg was laid a couple of days ago, and I just noticed that it has this on it:



Is it OK to use?

 

[mortie]

Looks like a minor crack. I'd crack it into a separate bowl and if it looks and smells ok I'm sure it's fine. Or if you are wary, just cook it up and feed it back to the chickens. No harm in being cautious.

 

[DylansMom]

This egg was laid a couple of days ago, and I just noticed that it has this on it:



Is it OK to use?

I would take it into a dark room and candle it with a flashlight. Make sure there are no hairline cracks that could let bacteria into it, the cracks will be really easy to see during candling, I candle all my eggs before they go in a bator to weed out cracked ones. If the shell is intact there should be no reason not to use it.

 

[ChickCraver]

Mortie's probably right. A few of my eggs were green on top when i cracked them but we got store-bought eggs too and one of those were green too so it was probably my grill...

 

[Ballerina Bird]

Thanks! The crack does seem minor, it's true. I was also wondering about that dark discoloration around it -- is that related to the crack? I wish my ladies would use their nesting box; they are otherwise darling, but I do get some cracked eggs like this from one girl in particular because they have picked a spot on the coop floor to which they are now very committed, right by the door and the ladder; not sheltered at all. Sigh. Better than laying in the run, I suppose.

 

[ChickCraver]

Im no expert but is the egg heavy? Looks kinda like a chick developing...

 

[ChickCraver]

Mine get discolored too and they look and taste fine.

 

[aart]

Chances are it's fine, that just some staining or maybe excess bloom or pigment...picked up off floor when egg was still wet upon exit.
If the crack doesn't go thru the inner membrane I wouldn't worry about internal contamination.

Can they get to the nests easily? Pics of nests might help us see if there are any issues.
Some fake eggs or golf balls can help entice them to lay in nests.

New layers can be a pain until they get things in the groove, can take up to a month or so.
Put something on the floor to impede access to the spot where they think they want to lay, that can help move them to where you want them to lay.

 

[Ballerina Bird]

Im no expert but is the egg heavy? Looks kinda like a chick developing...

No, there's no roo, so the eggs are unfertilized. Thanks for the suggestion though -- I really appreciate all the help.

 

[Ballerina Bird]

Chances are it's fine, that just some staining or maybe excess bloom or pigment...picked up off floor when egg was still wet upon exit.
If the crack doesn't go thru the inner membrane I wouldn't worry about internal contamination.

Can they get to the nests easily? Pics of nests might help us see if there are any issues.
Some fake eggs or golf balls can help entice them to lay in nests.

New layers can be a pain until they get things in the groove, can take up to a month or so.
Put something on the floor to impede access to the spot where they think they want to lay,  that can help move them to where you want them to lay.

Thanks for these suggestions! Maybe I'll start another thread on the nest box issue and post some pics. They still seem so flummoxed about laying that I am nervous about making it more difficult for them, but it occurs to me that I might be projecting a bit and they are actually fine.