How many of your eggs are dirty?

Wow, 2 clams a dozen? Sheeesh, free range eggs go for 4 to 5 smackeroos a doz around here. But I digress.

If it's a muddy day all my eggs are dirty! Otherwise, about 2 of every dozen are dirty. Only 2 a month for you?! Your girls are very neat.

 

When it's muddy out about 80% are dirty. When it's dry, almost none.

 

Same here.

 

I wish my gals were tidier too. I get about 3-4 dirty ones in a dozen. It doesn't seem to matter what I use in the boxes.

 

Maybe my girls should be more anal retentive.

 

My nest-layers give me generally clean eggs, but my floor-layer's are always dirty, a bit poopy or stuck with shavings and need a wipe/wash. Maybe this lady's hens lay on the coop floor or in the run.

PS In my local stores, organic and/or free-range eggs go for about $3 for a 1/2 dozen. Sometimes they go on sale for $4-5 a dozen if the store is overstocked. These are generally Land O Lakes cage free brown eggs. I buy eggs when my girls don't lay enough for what we need.

 

Ditto the above, it takes a pretty muddy day to get those little traces of dirt from the hen's feet on the shells.


I'm lucky that my nest areas are really super easy to access, and I take two kitty litter pooper-scoopers and if anyone pooped in the nest area, I lift the poop off the shavings daily. Refresh wood shavings as needed. Usually the worst my eggs get is if there is shaving or saw dust stuck to the bloom. I'm really lucky and my runs are pretty high and dry.

The lady in question may have really damp access, and her hens don't walk mud off before arriving in nest box--or if poop covered as you say---then maybe nest boxes need a cleaning. Hmmm.

 

Poopy would be cause for concern. I rarely have a poopy egg, but with all this rainy weather, the muddy egg is pretty common. I've trained people to accept the mud . Nothing seems to help the ladies learn to wipe their feet before they enter the nesting boxes. I've tried fresh shavings, nothing works.