Egg shells

[CORachael]

Hi everyone!

I have a question about egg shells. Sometimes my girls will lay eggs with little crusty patches of egg shell that look like calcium deposits. Can anyone tell me why this happens?



Thanks for your help!
-Rachael

 

[3riverschick]

Hi CORachael !

Here ya go, lotsa info and pictures:
What is Egg Shell Quality and How to Preserve It
http://ag.ansc.purdue.edu/poultry/multistate/koelkebeck1.htm

Strange calcium deposit on egg shell
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/312651/strange-calcium-deposit-on-egg-shell
with link to "Egg Quality Handbook"

Pictorial Chart: 20 COMMON EGG SHELL QUALITY PROBLEMS http://www.alltech.com/sites/default/files/alltech-egg-shell-quality-poster.pdf
I think yours is a "pimpled egg".
Best Regards,
Karen in western PA, USA

 

[Soltaria]

I've gotten ones like that from the grocery store before. My first thought was if they're using them for customers then it must be ok but then I stopped and thought about the conditions typical chicken mills have and if it was causing harm they likely wouldn't care :/
They probably wouldn't bother to spend the money to fix the problem if there was one.
Sorry, guess that's not very helpful.

 

[Ridgerunner]

That is not that unusual and not a big problem. If it is only one hen doing it, it is an individual hen issue. If it is the entire flock doing it, it is a flock issue.

If you are mixing oyster shell with your feed instead of offering it on the side, you might want to offer it on the side. That would be a flock issue. If it's only one hen doing it regularly you probably have a hen with a defective shell gland. It doesn't hurt the hen to lay an egg like that. It does not hurt the quality of the egg. It is still safe to use. Lots of our hens lay eggs like that.