Topic of the Week - When eggs go wrong

[Magicque]

You are always going to get eggs that just aren't right. In fact most aren't what you find in the grocery stores. I worked for about a year at a chicken/egg farm. They had over a million chickens. Perhaps half, if that many, made it to the cartons to be sold to consumers. The rest were rejected due to shape, blem's, cracks, color, size or many other reasons. These would go to a line where they would be cracked and the egg would go into 5 gl. bucket to be frozen. These frozen shelled eggs would go to the military and other bulk egg using industries that don't need whole in the shell eggs. So, if you are getting 50% or more good eggs, your doing quite well. Right now on my little homestead I get about 24 eggs a day. I always have 2 or 3 soft shelled, thin shelled, cracked shelled or no shell eggs a day. Perhaps half would be what I would call a "Perfect Egg", no blem's. I'm not picky, so I'm runnin' about 90% edible eggs. I eat about 2 to 3 dozen a month personally, the rest I donate to the local food bank. They're not too picky either.
God Bless, Rick
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[Magicque]

What an awesome idea to donate to food bank !

 

[StacyLynn1984]

I found this one and the shell was paper thin. It broke when I barely grabbed it then the hens started to eat it which felt horribly wrong to me! Aagh!

 

[Bonniebooboo]

Anyone here ever get an egg with another complete egg (shell and all) inside it? I so wish I had taken a picture ( or even better a video) of the time I got one!

I have only gotten that once. A large egg that I decided to cook and when I broke it, a smaller shell with a little yolk and white membrane inside. about size of a large marble. Recently I was gathering eggs and there was one yolk/white membrane unbroken in the nest with a little glob of white cottage cheese looking blob on it. never had that happen before and it hasn't happened since. Don't know who done it. no shell at all to see. I do get some of those weird formed eggs, kind of long but narrow for the egg carton. I still eat them though. I have found the one Barred Hen lays that one. I don't think there is anything wrong with the specs on an otherwise nicely shaped egg. I get those sometimes too, but not on a regular basis, so not sure what causes that type of thing.
All good posts. Very interesting what everyone goes through.

 

[Karien]

File-14-6

• Karien
• Sep 18, 2017
• 1

Fairy egg with 'tail'

I have a pullet that has just started laying, quote old already actually, as my others started around 5-6 months and this one is 8-9 months already. I have been getting several fairy eggs for weeks, and I'm suspecting it's her. My others had one or two before they started laying normally but it is taking very long so I'm a bit worried. Today I had one egg that had a weird 'tail'.

Does anyone know if there is something I can do? I think this hen might have some reproductive issues but where I live there is no good chicken vet unfortunately, nor do I know if that would help if its a genetic thing?

 

[salsss]

This is what I got today. And ... see that dust on the back? This hen always lays an egg with the dust. They're dusted ...and I regularly put poultry dust in their favorite dusting spots in between. Is she sick?

Edited to add: this is the second wrinkly egg in a week.

 

[Trish1974]

Anyone here ever get an egg with another complete egg (shell and all) inside it? I so wish I had taken a picture ( or even better a video) of the time I got one!

Not personally, but I know a lady who did last year AND it was a blue egg!

 

[Sylvester017]

We had a sweet Black Silkie that from her very first layed egg would cry or be agitated all day long until she layed her egg. She would be so agitated that she scratched the nestbox so vigorously that she pulled out toenails and lost a toe to bleeding. For 6 years she was always an agitated egg-layer and I naively hoped that didn't mean reproductive issues in future.

Our other Partridge Silkie would normally lay one soft shell egg at the very end of her laying cycle and we knew she was done for a while, plus she was always a quiet layer. The Black Silkie was always an agitated layer. At 6 years old the Black Silkie layed a large hard brown rubber egg. A couple weeks later the 2nd rubber egg stuck completely to her outside vent and I soaked her in warm water but the egg would not come off so we rushed her to the vet. The egg was softened enough to come apart in the vet's fingers and he was alarmed at the blood. Poor baby had a bleeding ovary tumor and we had to put her down.

Some pics of her fart egg, large brown rubber egg, and some of her "normal" eggs in the egg skelter. She was full of personality and we miss her so much. The Partridge Silkie is still with us but she's slowing down and hasn't layed eggs in over a year.

 

[jennkretz]

New layers give me the occasional rubber egg or soft shelled egg. Several nights ago, there was an intact egg yolk laying on the floor under the roost.

My most memorable goofy egg layer was a home bred BSL (RIR x PBR) She had a difficult time regulating her conveyor belt. Any readers remember the Lucille Ball show where Lucy and Ethel got hired to work in a chocolate factory, wrapping those little chocolates as they came down the conveyor belt? The belt kept speeding up until poor Lucy was stuffing them in her pockets, in her bra, then she started eating them.

Well, that was my little black hen, Hola! In one 24 hour period, I watched her lay 2 rubber eggs at 5 minute intervals, followed by a normal egg the following morning.

The most common nest box glitch I find is when a hen plops a big ol' turd in the nest box along with an egg. Or the inevitable skid marks that accompany sloppy muddy days.

After the pullets get up to full production, I average less than 2 eggs/week that do not make it into egg cartons. Any dirty eggs get set aside for my own use. Any soft shelled eggs go to my egg sucking, thieving dog. Egg shells get dried and go back to the flock.

Any time I ever notice a decline in egg shell quality, I give the birds some multi vitamins. That has an almost instant beneficial effect on the structural quality of the entire egg. IMO, calcium and protein are but a very small part of egg quality and bird health.

What do you use for "multi vitamins?"
Thanks!

 

[Gail Laubenthal]

I have a hen that is a year and a half old. Since we built a new coop with new laying boxes, she stopped laying for 3 months, but now has begun, but the problem is that all her egg shells are so thin or none existent that the egg never makes it out of the laying box. None of my other hens have this issue. Is she lacking calcium, and if so, how do I treat just one hen? Is she too old the make a good hard shell? What else could it be?