Strange white bits in eggs. Are these worms?

[CarlaJ]

Hi, I'm new here! I've been throwing eggs away for about 8 weeks thinking these are worms in the eggs. I've temporarily moved the chickens to a new patch, given them flubenvet for 7 days (I've now done this twice!). The chickens look perfectly healthy and normal, but the eggs are still the same. Are these worms, or something different?? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[viennaproto]

It's a chalaza i believe-if so, totally safe to eat

 

[viennaproto]

I would not give your chickens anything or keep moving them. These eggs look totally normal and healthy to me

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, I'm new here! I've been throwing eggs away for about 8 weeks thinking these are worms in the eggs. I've temporarily moved the chickens to a new patch, given them flubenvet for 7 days (I've now done this twice!). The chickens look perfectly healthy and normal, but the eggs are still the same. Are these worms, or something different?? Any help would be appreciated. View attachment 2135858

It's the chalazae.. used to keep the yolk suspended in place..

My grandma used to think it was the umbilical cord of a chick and ALWAYS used a spoon to scoop them off the egg before cooking even in cake batters etc.

https://www.incredibleegg.org/eggcyclopedia/c/chalazae/

Please.. get a fecal float done by a vet before treating your birds for what they don't have while maybe not treating what they do. Only large round worms and tape worms will ever be seen in dropping. All others stay in the intestines and only their microscopic oocysts (eggs) will pass to never be seen by the naked eye. Despite some of my birds having symptoms that many will SWEAR are internal parasite related... my fecal floats have come back clean and have YET to need to treat my birds so have avoided all that hassle. Some mail in services might be even more affordable.

ETA: Hi there, welcome to BYC!

ETAA: please note worms in eggs IS possible but very uncommon...
https://thepoultrysite.com/publications/egg-quality-handbook/35/roundworms-in-eggs

 

[GC-Raptor]

Yeah, like others said; that is the Chalaza. .
It's less noticeable in older store bought eggs.
Sometimes the Chalazae "plural" are removed in baking for a more uniform texture. GC

 

[CarlaJ]

Thank you so much for this! There definitely was a worm in an egg at one point, a family member had some eggs and had a bit of a shock, but I never got to see it myself. I had assumed these were just smaller worms after knowing that. looks like I've been throwing eggs away for weeks without good reason. I had read it was uncommon, so was baffled why all the eggs seemed to have worms in, and why I couldn't seem to get rid of them. But this explains a lot!
Thank you all for your help! Will definitely take it on board about getting them tested next time.

 

[3KillerBs]

Chalazae are a sign of freshness. The reason you haven't seen them in grocery store eggs is that those eggs are old and the chalazae have degraded.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

It's less noticeable in older store bought eggs.

Gosh, it's been so long since I've seen supermarket eggs.. I didn't realize this!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

There definitely was a worm in an egg at one point, a family member had some eggs and had a bit of a shock, but I never got to see it myself.

Jokingly.. Pics or it didn't happen!

Seriously though.. consider requesting anyone who finds something in an egg send you a photo of it.. many folks will think a meat spot or a blood spot is embryo development and I'm sure they could easily be mistaken for worms... especially if you have new layers they can experience reproductive hiccups as their system works out it's kinks. And then when you post the photo on here.. we all get the opportunity to learn from it! Despite raising literally hundreds of birds over the past decade.. I still see and learn something new almost daily.

 

[AngieDawn]

It's a chalaza i believe-if so, totally safe to eat

Agree