Frozen Eggs: are they safe to eat?

[ChocolateMouse]

Milburn, that's also actually a myth in most cases. I smash raw eggs that are questionably old on the ground for my hens all the time. If they don't break open, they will leave them to rot on the ground without touching them. I have to break them open with a stick or they refuse to eat them. They will peck at them once or twice to see that they're solid and not broken, and then they walk away.

 

[Eggscoozme]

I won't eat them if the shell's cracked. Not worth the risk. I thaw them and give them back to the birds.

Me too! If not cracked yet, though, I will keep them for us to eat. It's all about whether the shell is cracked or not for us.

 

[Eggscoozme]

As long as you change the form, so they cannot identify it's an egg, you're OK. Don't give them a raw smashed egg. You can feed scrambled, hard-boiled, and also grind up the shells for calcium. We collect the cracked shells in a container in the kitchen. When it's full, we crunch up the dried shells as a calcium supplement for the hens. They prefer it over oyster shell.
View attachment 1241606
Scrambled eggs with shells & layer feed. YUM!

Is that a Brabanter in your picture or Spitzhauben?

 

[DwayneNLiz]

Is that a Brabanter in your picture or Spitzhauben?

this is my guess, i think spitz, because brabanters have muffs

 

[GC-Raptor]

I don't eat cracked eggs, whether they cracked from being frozen or because of a thin shell.
If cracked because they froze, I thaw them and feed back raw to the hens.
If frozen but not cracked I eat.
Sometimes it's hard to see a crack when they thaw, but if you check immediately while still frozen, the cracks are easier to see. I candle all eggs that look good, the cracks are easy to see. . The same egg. . GC

 

[Faraday40]

Is that a Brabanter in your picture or Spitzhauben?

A Silver Appenzeller Spitzhauben She was supposed to be my "Spitzie" but my son claimed her & renamed her "PoofPoof."

 

[davecross336]

Just a general thread to ask what others think.

I live in NH it we have had some VERY cold weather. Eggs of course are getting very cold OR freezing before they are gathered.

So, what do you all think??

I live in northern Vermont and when it came to my eggs over the last month if there was a crack in just the shell but not the membrane I used those eggs that day. However if the membrane had a tear in them I didn't keep the eggs. I have 24 birds so there were days when I'd get three or four cracked eggs.

 

[lazy gardener]

That's a risky practice. You dont want to give your ladies a taste for eggs, or they may start breaking into them before you collect them

This is an old wives tale. Chickens will eat any egg that gets broken. Beekissed has tossed raw eggs to her flock for years, and has never had an issue with egg eaters that is not associated with poor shell quality. Her assertion: a chicken is more apt to become an egg eater if dietary needs are not met. Feeding the "not table worthy" eggs back to the flock helps to ensure that their dietary needs are met, and actually helps prevent egg eating in the flock.

If the reader feels better by cooking eggs before feeding them to the flock, that's certainly an other valid option.

 

[BantyChooks]

That's a risky practice. You dont want to give your ladies a taste for eggs, or they may start breaking into them before you collect them

Nonsense. I've fed my birds raw eggs shell and all for 4 years, and I have had a lot. I have had exactly one egg eater and she was a nutty bird that I think had nutritional deficiencies for some reason.

Actually, if a cracked egg isn't too solid, I'll just drop it and mush it with my boots. The shell's good calcium.

 

[Farm Gurl]

Have never been able to figure just how to do this....
......one went off the table then it was cracked.

That would happen to me lol