Weird gray stuff on yolks?

[BlackberryAcres]

So, a few weeks ago I cracked open an egg (unfortunately INTO my muffin batter, no more muffins!) that had kind of a gray film or something over half the yolk. It didn't smell bad, but I figured it had just been old. Today I cracked open one that had the same type of gray coating over part of the yolk, centered around the white stringy thing which I assume is the umbilical cord or something? I threw that one away before it occurred to me to take a picture. Next egg okay, then the next egg had this in it-


It wasn't on the little white circle, that was on the other side. It's actually attached to the yolk, I couldn't pull it off or anything. It doesn't seem like a worm, just like a clump of flesh or something. It isn't a meat spot, is it? The pictures I found of those were really small.

Any idea what any of this stuff is? The two eggs today I'm sure are less than two weeks old.

Thanks!

 

[Miss Lydia]

So, a few weeks ago I cracked open an egg (unfortunately INTO my muffin batter, no more muffins!) that had kind of a gray film or something over half the yolk. It didn't smell bad, but I figured it had just been old. Today I cracked open one that had the same type of gray coating over part of the yolk, centered around the white stringy thing which I assume is the umbilical cord or something? I threw that one away before it occurred to me to take a picture. Next egg okay, then the next egg had this in it-


It wasn't on the little white circle, that was on the other side. It's actually attached to the yolk, I couldn't pull it off or anything. It doesn't seem like a worm, just like a clump of flesh or something. It isn't a meat spot, is it? The pictures I found of those were really small.

Any idea what any of this stuff is? The two eggs today I'm sure are less than two weeks old.

Thanks!

Was a duck sitting on them when you collected them? or a chicken? if so how long/ I don't think I've ever seen anything like that.

 

[TOP KNOT]

http://www.geauga4h.org/poultry/egg_parts.htm
Check this out

 

[BlackberryAcres]

Was a duck sitting on them when you collected them? or a chicken? if so how long/ I don't think I've ever seen anything like that.

Nope, nobody sitting on it.

 

[BlackberryAcres]

http://www.geauga4h.org/poultry/egg_parts.htm
Check this out

VERY interesting! So maybe what I was seeing was white yolk? Especially since it was around the column of white yolk? Wow.

And looking at the tissue of the reproductive tract, it totally looks like what is in this picture could have been a piece of tissue that broke off during the yolk-making process. . . I accidentally broke the yolk flipping it over to look for the circle so I threw it away, I wish I could look at it again now!

Thanks!

 

[TOP KNOT]

The white tough piece you see is called the chalaza it keeps the yolk centered in the egg.

 

[BlackberryAcres]

Okay, so I got two more weird eggs.


This one looks almost cloudy? The yolk was firm, though. Maybe that was a mixture of white and yellow yolks?



And this one was collected today, definitely laid today. It's fertile, but that mass of light gray/almost blue is next to the fertile area.

Any other ideas? Is it possible to test them for things?

I have people asking if I have enough eggs to sell and I DO, but I don't want to be accidentally sending out eggs like this, especially if I don't know what it is!

 

[BlackberryAcres]

I'm going to post this in the chicken area in case anyone over there has experienced something similar. Wider audience and all.

 

[Amiga]

Sorry I did not post sooner . . .

Just wanted to mention that during their first year laying, I got several of these odd bits in the eggs. Seems to be part of the startup process.

I wondered out here on the forum about why I had not seen things like this in eggs I buy in the store, and someone told me that candling the eggs shows these things, and so commercially sold eggs like this go to bakeries and such.

 

[BlackberryAcres]

Oh, good, so they're fine to eat even though they look weird, then? I'm glad someone else has seen this! Candling them before selling is a good idea. Thanks!