Strange looking eggs

[jess19864]

Looks normal if they are new layers.

They are not new the rhodies have been laying a few years and the blacks at least a year

 

[rebrascora]

Sometimes new layers scratch the nesting material out of the nest boxes and when the eggs are laid, they hit the hard surface underneath and get a little dink like that if the shells are thin. The OP states " I never use them because they seem weaker" which suggests it may be an egg shell quality issue.

Edited to add....

I now see (our posts overlapped) that they are not new layers, and the shells are breaking when handled, so definitely a shell quality issue. It may be that they are running out of minerals to produce good shells as they come to the end of their laying cycle..... I expect that they will start moulting soon. Respiratory disease can also cause weak shells. Have you noticed any sneezing or runny eyes/noses?

 

[jess19864]

The first 2 look to me like natural bloom. The 3rd looks like a calcium related issue.
BTW..
Welcome to the site!! FC
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I give them calcium and poultry shell I bought from the feed store on top of their normal feed which also has calcium

 

[barred2rock]

I'd feed them back to the girls and see if the extra protein helps.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

I'd feed them back to the girls and see if the extra protein helps.

Cooked

 

[jess19864]

Jess, do you have new layers? Often pullets will do exploratory pecking on the egg shells. This looks like that's what you have going on. Just be sure you are offering plenty of extra calcium. If you have weak shells, those exploratory pecks will be rewarded with yummy egg. Not a good thing.

Sometimes new layers scratch the nesting material out of the nest boxes and when the eggs are laid, they hit the hard surface underneath and get a little dink like that if the shells are thin. The OP states " I never use them because they seem weaker" which suggests it may be an egg shell quality issue.

Edited to add....

I now see (our posts overlapped) that they are not new layers, and the shells are breaking when handled, so definitely a shell quality issue. It may be that they are running out of minerals to produce good shells as they come to the end of their laying cycle..... I expect that they will start moulting soon. Respiratory disease can also cause weak shells. Have you noticed any sneezing or runny eyes/noses?

No they are perfectly healthy. I get 8 eggs a day one from each of them. It's not all the time with the shells just when they look like that. As far as moulting goes I guess they could be but I haven't noticed many missing feathers. It is August in pa so anything is possible I guess. Been a pretty cool summer.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

We eat the undamaged ones and have been for around 6 years, no one in the family has been sick from this. The damaged (cracked) ones we cook and feed back to our hens. We also feed all egg shells, crushed, back to our hen in a separate container, so each hen can decide for herself if she craves the calcium (needs more in her diet). We still get an occasional strange egg. Hope this helps.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

When one of our hens first started laying, we would get a large elongated egg fairly regularly, they were usually double yokes. We miss those, they were fun at breakfast time, especially as my daughter was still fairly young. We were pretty sure that the egg would have a double yoke and she enjoyed watching it cracked into the pan. Almost like we were doing a magic trick! LOL