Insect eggs on eggshell???

[Rivers Edge Homestead]

I grabbed a couple eggs out of the nesting box this afternoon and one felt pretty rough in texture which is not abnormal on occasion. What I found really strange was the string of tiny uniformly sized balls attached to the outside of the eggshell and when I touch them they fell off. They seemed a bit like Styrofoam balls. They were tiny, not even half a millimeter in diameter. Could they be some type of insect eggs?

 

[sourland]

Not likely. Looks like excessive calcium deposits. Sometimes it happens.

 

[CluckerFamily]

You may be able to lightly rub your finger over the bumps of calcium and they will come off.

 

[SulkyBantam]

Insect eggs would not be the exact colour of the egg....

 

[Rivers Edge Homestead]

Insect eggs would not be the exact colour of the egg....

Good point! Thank you!

 

[21hens-incharge]

We have been seeing a few of these posts the last year or two. The first I saw was on a tan egg so I totally thought insect too.

This summer I saw them in person from a green layer here. They are indeed calcium and still very odd lol.

 

[Corbdee]

You may be able to lightly rub your finger over the bumps of calcium and they will come off.

I would not recommend it. Usually when that happens, it means the egg went bad and could even explode if you try to rub them off. That’s just been in my experience

 

[Corbdee]

I would candle the egg first though if you throw it out. It could still be alive.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I would not recommend it. Usually when that happens, it means the egg went bad and could even explode if you try to rub them off. That’s just been in my experience

No. They happen during the egg shell process in the hen. I gather multiple times a day and the ones I have seen are from a specific hen. They are on the egg before it is even deposited in the nest.

 

[Rivers Edge Homestead]

You may be able to lightly rub your finger over the bumps of calcium and they will come off.

I ended up washing the egg right away to refrigerate and they all came off.