Mucus covered egg-Help a newbie?

[sarabarnes]

Hi

I have been a proud chicken owner for 3 weeks, so perhaps it's not surprising that I saw something new today. I collected an egg that was absolutely covered with mucus. It looked like something very big had a sneeze on it. Is this normal? I'm not finding anything in my chicken book about it. I have my fingers crossed that as a new hen parent, I'm worried over nothing, but to be on the safe side, I thought I'd post the question to you knowledgeable people. Any ideas?

~Sara

 

[Sunny the Hippie Chick]

I have no idea. But hope some one can come along and answer your question..

 

[birdparadise]

All eggs have a gooey coating when just laid. Was the egg still warm?

 

[sarabarnes]

It was still warm, but it was an unusual amount of goo. I've collected recently laid eggs before. This is more than normal (at least the normal I've seen in my short time as a chicken parent.) I would guess maybe 1/2 a cup? The egg looked like it was slimed.