"Hens eggs are MOOSHY when boiled - PROBLEM??"

[kellybelly]

HI, just wanted to update on the eggs. They are still the same. Very thin, brittle egg shells, sandpaper finish with the occasional calcified lump and sometimes and small hole in the shell. The egg whites are very runny. She free ranges in the day and has access to additonal calcium in the form of shell grit.

Miss Henny ( the bird in question) has taken to sometimes laying her eggs in the garden and making little nests? This isnt all the time but sometimes. I have thoroughly checked the hen house for mites etc but I can see nothing in there at all so Im not sure why she would lay elsewhere. Do they just do that sometimes?

I broken one of her eggs open and the yolk looked a bit funny, with some sort of slight discoloration. I then broke a couple more open and they did not have the discoloration but we are not eating the eggs anyway. Guess Im a bit paranoid!

I found somewhere on the net something about infectious bronchitis causing this sort of trouble with eggs but she doesnt seem to have any of the symptoms of it.

I am considering that it may be down to her age. Has anyone else had weird eggs from an old bird?

 

[BeautyBuffs]

My Buffs are just starting to lay, this is their first year laying. I got them when they were 2 weeks old and were so looking forward to the eggs. Their eggs don't peel right when I boil them, either chunks come off of them or once I get them peel they will have layers of white that wants to peel away (kind of like onion layers). Need less to say they are not to pretty to look at when attempting to make devil eggs. I have not fried one yet and have not cracked one open just to see how the inners look. I am only getting 2 sometimes 3 eggs a day as the 9 hens are not all laying. I have been giving them garden left overs since the garden has pretty much gone out of season but they also get the laying crumbles (wendlands brand) and I take about half of a 24 oz. cup of hen scratch out to them daily as well when I go out to just visit or collect the egss. In the evenings I will let them out of the run to roam the fenced in back yard for a few hours so they get whatever bugs and worms they catch. The tempatures here in Texas have been hot to say the least since they started laying (not sure if that would matter) and I rake their run every other day and daily general poo pick up in the coop and a weekly scrub out on the coop on saturdays.

Any suggestions about what I can do to resolve the peeling, soft white boiled egg syndrome thing?

 

[Vicky2479]

If she is from a laying factory I would say she is getting "old", these type of hen (here it is the isa browns) are bred to lay everyday and like others said are only kept for a year or so because even though are still laying they can't keep up the quality at the rate, they will also literally lay themselves to death. I have just started a laying chart for my hens and my isa is the only one that has laid 8 eggs in 8 days, all the others have taken at least 1 day off.
I don't believe anything is seriously wrong with the eggs but I would be feeding them to my dog or back to the chickens myself. I would keep an eye on that hen cause they can often become egg bound as they get older.
Beautybuffs I had one of those eggs the other day, it came from my Isa and was a double Yolker, it was also laid less than 6 hours ealier and not been in the fridge, it think it is just cause they are so fresh like one of the others said.

 

[BeautyBuffs]

I have read the article links posted and I am going to try some of the different boiling methods one of the articles spoke about. Sunday dinner with the family will hopefully have some devil eggs that don't look to shabby. The eggs taste wonderful even if they are peeling like onions when boiled. I would never have guessed to adjust cooking methods based on freshness of the eggs. lol. You learn so much on here!
One of the girls gave me a leathery shelled egg today, kind of reminded me of a snake egg. It broke in the hen house.Not a one of the chickens wanted anything to do with the inners of the egg or the outer. They just left it lay until I cleaned it up.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

It helps to immerse them in ice cold water immediately after boiling, and also to use the ones that have been sitting in the fridge the longest for boiled eggs I have found.

I didn't read through the whole thread, so I apologize if this has already been said.

 

[cindys4jc]

My Buffs are just starting to lay, this is their first year laying. I got them when they were 2 weeks old and were so looking forward to the eggs. Their eggs don't peel right when I boil them, either chunks come off of them or once I get them peel they will have layers of white that wants to peel away (kind of like onion layers). Need less to say they are not to pretty to look at when attempting to make devil eggs. I have not fried one yet and have not cracked one open just to see how the inners look. I am only getting 2 sometimes 3 eggs a day as the 9 hens are not all laying. I have been giving them garden left overs since the garden has pretty much gone out of season but they also get the laying crumbles (wendlands brand) and I take about half of a 24 oz. cup of hen scratch out to them daily as well when I go out to just visit or collect the egss. In the evenings I will let them out of the run to roam the fenced in back yard for a few hours so they get whatever bugs and worms they catch. The tempatures here in Texas have been hot to say the least since they started laying (not sure if that would matter) and I rake their run every other day and daily general poo pick up in the coop and a weekly scrub out on the coop on saturdays.

Any suggestions about what I can do to resolve the peeling, soft white boiled egg syndrome thing?

Steaming the eggs makes them peel easier. I use a veggie steamer tray and start timing 20 mins. at the boiling point.

 

[silentgrayfello]

We have four white hens with white eggs (no sure of the breed) but they have the same problem as indicated in the subject string. I steam them with other brown and green eggs and they always end up like cottage cheese on the outside whites. The yolk is just fine. I've noticed the thin shells as well even though we supplement with calcium. What I don't get is why just these white eggs and not all of them if there is some vitamin or protein deficiency? I've been checking back on this site and subject but, as yet, no one has really addressed the problem. And, please, methods of producing the perfect "hard-boiled egg" is not addressing this issue.

 

[jessiebrooke]

No matter how long we boil our eggs the yoks are always runny?what can be wrong?

 

[Mhoops]

I have the same problem. I also find these eggs when fried, the whites never fully harden. And we end up giving them to the dog or back to the chickens.
I have 3 golden comets, but I haven't been able to identify which one is laying the bad eggs. I wonder if it could be a breed issue.

 

[CaseyHarris]

Not sure how old this thread is but I’ve had the same problem off and on for years. At the beginning of spring, it was my Americauna eggs doing it. We had them locked up all winter. Now they free range again and they stopped. But now it’s the isa browns— and they free range. I’ve never found an answer to the moooshy whites. And it only happens when we hard boil. Frying or scrambling everything is just fine. Shells are not thin. Yolks are good and orange. I’ve yet to find a reason as it comes and goes— my only conclusion is maybe it’s because their eggs are so much bigger? So boiling for 20 minutes is not enough? I literally have no idea. Buts it’s been a thing here and there for many years. I don’t think the birds have a virus as it comes and goes.