- Oct 7, 2010
- 2
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Hi everyone, I'm a newbie on this list. My dh, dd & I have a small goat & chicken farm in the midwest. We have several breeds, with Americauna being my favorite at the moment. We raised Buff Orps this year for meat birds.
I have a question about a problem with a few of our eggs lately. The shells aren't broken, the eggs are at most 3 days old, and when cracked open, the contents are already scrambled - the yolk has ruptured and mixed with the albumen. I'm having a hard time finding out why this is. The one guess that I have is since some of our hens are getting pretty old (4-5 years old), the yolk membrane is weak. Also, they lay in on top of our hay bales in the barn (tall hay pile) and sometimes I find some on the ground next to the hay bales - I imagine they've fallen out of the nest. No cracks in the shell - there's hay on landing site. Perhaps the weak membrane ruptures in the fall? I haven't experimented to see if it's possible yet, thought I'd ask before wasting eggs. I'm worried that somehow it's bacterial. Any suggestions? Thanks!
I have a question about a problem with a few of our eggs lately. The shells aren't broken, the eggs are at most 3 days old, and when cracked open, the contents are already scrambled - the yolk has ruptured and mixed with the albumen. I'm having a hard time finding out why this is. The one guess that I have is since some of our hens are getting pretty old (4-5 years old), the yolk membrane is weak. Also, they lay in on top of our hay bales in the barn (tall hay pile) and sometimes I find some on the ground next to the hay bales - I imagine they've fallen out of the nest. No cracks in the shell - there's hay on landing site. Perhaps the weak membrane ruptures in the fall? I haven't experimented to see if it's possible yet, thought I'd ask before wasting eggs. I'm worried that somehow it's bacterial. Any suggestions? Thanks!
