Help! Our fertilized eggs aren't edible

[mamaC11]

Not too sure about the heat being the cause. I've never had that happen during all of my Texas inferno summers. I collect fertilized and unfertilized eggs at the end of the day and put them in the fridge. I've never seen yolks like this.

I have the same thoughts. Our GA summers are always terrible too. I'm leaning more towards the broody hen in combination with the heat

 

[RenataPorter]

I've been raising chickens off and on for years and I've never encountered this issue.
We have about 8-10 buff orpington hens in with 1 buff rooster. The eggs over the last month or two have been disgusting. I've never had a problem keeping a rooster in with the ladies, but maybe I need to remove him? Here's what we're facing:
We collect daily so the eggs aren't old (I promise. sometimes we collect 2x/day We never leave anything overnight unless we aren't home or a couple girls lay after we collect in the evening);.
We have 1 broody hen that is trying to sit on the eggs, but we aren't leaving any behind.
We leave them on the counter because we normally eat what we collect on a regular (family of 8)
When we crack them, there is no formed yolk. It's runny with blood vessels and a white film in it as if an embryo had already formed.
Sometimes they have an odd smell as if borderline rotten.

I thought my kids might be being careless and not collecting quickly enough, so I took the chore over and we have the same result.

Hens are about 2-3 years old. Fed Non GMO feed, constant access to clean water and multiple shelters. Lay in a nest box about 95% of the time. Heat here in GA has been insane this summer.
Should I remove the rooster and just not have fertile eggs? Deal with the broody hen? Or is there something else I could be missing such as an illness that could affect them?

We're eating old eggs in our fridge that we had put back to sell because 90% of the eggs currently being laid are inedible.
I'll crack one and try to upload a pic. Thanks for reading this novel! I'd appreciate any feedback.
Michelle

i would venture to say it's not the heat. Something is up with the chickens. I went through this for about a week or so and then things came right. I never figured out what the heck was going on but it righted itself.

 

[tlcmurphy]

Hello If you pick up your eggs frequently throughout the day before the summer heat can spoil them they won't get spoiled. In summer I like to pick up eggs several times per day.

I know that everyone doesn't have responsibility to do this, but if you can do it, your eggs will be fresh.

Has nothing to do with responsibility, many if not most of us work. I can not collect eggs before I get home Mon-Fri.

 

[BuckarooForU]

I've been raising chickens off and on for years and I've never encountered this issue.
We have about 8-10 buff orpington hens in with 1 buff rooster. The eggs over the last month or two have been disgusting. I've never had a problem keeping a rooster in with the ladies, but maybe I need to remove him? Here's what we're facing:
We collect daily so the eggs aren't old (I promise. sometimes we collect 2x/day We never leave anything overnight unless we aren't home or a couple girls lay after we collect in the evening);.
We have 1 broody hen that is trying to sit on the eggs, but we aren't leaving any behind.
We leave them on the counter because we normally eat what we collect on a regular (family of 8)
When we crack them, there is no formed yolk. It's runny with blood vessels and a white film in it as if an embryo had already formed.
Sometimes they have an odd smell as if borderline rotten.

I thought my kids might be being careless and not collecting quickly enough, so I took the chore over and we have the same result.

Hens are about 2-3 years old. Fed Non GMO feed, constant access to clean water and multiple shelters. Lay in a nest box about 95% of the time. Heat here in GA has been insane this summer.
Should I remove the rooster and just not have fertile eggs? Deal with the broody hen? Or is there something else I could be missing such as an illness that could affect them?

We're eating old eggs in our fridge that we had put back to sell because 90% of the eggs currently being laid are inedible.
I'll crack one and try to upload a pic. Thanks for reading this novel! I'd appreciate any feedback.
Michelle

Michelle, You’re leaving the eggs on the counter!
Doesn’t matter if you’re collecting them twice a day, if they’re on the counter after there’ve been fertilized by a rooster, the embryo is still developing!
With a fertilized egg, you must bring them in and put them in the fridge to stop the process! Depending on the stage of development, you may still have a problem, but if you want any chance at all at having edible eggs, don’t place them in the counter, place them in the fridge! It’s about the temperature! Must stop development.

The sure fire method is to quarantine the rooster away from layers that you desire to consume their eggs. He can have his fun with the other girls, but not with the eggs you put on the table.

 

[aart]

Doesn’t matter if you’re collecting them twice a day, if they’re on the counter after there’ve been fertilized by a rooster, the embryo is still developing!

Only if the room temp near the counter is 100°F.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Michelle, You’re leaving the eggs on the counter!
Doesn’t matter if you’re collecting them twice a day, if they’re on the counter after there’ve been fertilized by a rooster, the embryo is still developing!
With a fertilized egg, you must bring them in and put them in the fridge to stop the process! Depending on the stage of development, you may still have a problem, but if you want any chance at all at having edible eggs, don’t place them in the counter, place them in the fridge! It’s about the temperature! Must stop development.

The sure fire method is to quarantine the rooster away from layers that you desire to consume their eggs. He can have his fun with the other girls, but not with the eggs you put on the table.

The embryo isn't developing at all unless it's almost 100F where the eggs are.

 

[RcoM]

Interesting! We had a really hot summer (up to 41 degress C) and keep eggs on the bench. We don't have air con and yet all our eggs have been good to eat. I was worried about the broody on eggs. They hatched a little early but otherwise all was well, despite the heat

 

[Love Donkeys]

Not too sure about the heat being the cause. I've never had that happen during all of my Texas inferno summers. I collect fertilized and unfertilized eggs at the end of the day and put them in the fridge. I've never seen yolks like this.

Same goes for me in hot, miserably humid Alabama! I only pick up the eggs when I'm closing my coop up for the night. When I run out room in the fridge I store my eggs on a bath towel on my kitchen counter. Like you, I have never come across yolks like this out of my free-range chickens.

 

[Love Donkeys]

This might be a silly question, but here goes. Is there any chance the eggs are being shook? If the eggs are shook the yoke will appear to be scrambled....

There was Swans that were over populating a lake. The Fish and Wildlife people were trying to control the Swan population. They took the eggs or broke the eggs, momma Swan just laid more eggs. Then they came up with the idea to shake the eggs and leave them in the nest for momma Swan. That is how they controlled the Swan population.

 

[Squawkers]

There was Swans that were over populating a lake. The Fish and Wildlife people were trying to control the Swan population. They took the eggs or broke the eggs, momma Swan just laid more eggs. Then they came up with the idea to shake the eggs and leave them in the nest for momma Swan. That is how they controlled the Swan population

That’s fascinating!!!