Strange tasting eggs!!

[Ridgerunner]

Do you possibly have a lot of wild onions where they are eating outside? I don't know what wild onions will do to eggs but I do clearly remember what wild onions do to fresh cows milk. It's not a fishy taste but maybe chickens process it differently.

Just a wild guess.

 

[greathorse]

I would be quite certain that it is something they are getting as they free range. It is the spring and a lot of new growth. The wild onion guess is not a bad one. It gives fresh meat in cattle that eat it a "off" flavor that I have heard folks describe as fishy. I refer to it as metallic. I know that grass fed animals can be the most variable in terms of flavor profile in the spring with new and green growth.

I love free ranging but you may need to take them off range for a bit to see if it changes.

 

[truechick]

I can't take them off free range I don't have a run. We might be able to put together a temporary one. But it won't be very secure.

 

[Kim_NC]

Eating new Spring growth from a plant that's not usually available during other seasons does sound likely.

Another thought - Is it possible only one hen is laying eggs with the off flavor? Could you confine them, one or two at a time, to test their eggs?

 

[Tweeza]

Could a neighbor be feeding them? We have a neighbor that used to throw all kinds of stuff to our dogs. It was frightening to find a turkey carcus in the backyard and the dogs feasting. We had to talk to them about it. They now have their own dog/garbage disposal and I feel sorry for him and his pen is unsightly!! I could go on...

 

[truechick]

It's very unlikely anyone else is feeding them. the neighbors are to far away.
It might be possible to confine them a couple at a time but they might not lay if they are cooped up.

 

[KyleD.]

Could it possibly be oyester shell? Do you offer that to them?

 

[katrinag]

I have been using the same feed and do not have a problem. Have you tried to cut back on the scratchand tablescrapes?

 

[EricShane]

KyleD. :

Could it possibly be oyester shell? Do you offer that to them?

right, thats what I was thinking.. maybe they got a hold of some bad oysters! lol​

 

[enola]

If it is the occassional egg, and not lots of them, I would suspect that only ONE of your hens is the culprit.

I bought some old battery layers one time, only 6 of them. One of them layed a really watery, bad tasting egg. It didn't take me long to figure out which one it was and turn her into soup.

But, you might have a problem since you have so many hens. I don't have any tips on how to narrow it down to which hen it could be in your case.