I have eggs that taste real bad. I gather the eggs every day so it is not that they stay out or anything. The eggs look like normal eggs and they dont have any smell and you cant tell they are bad until you taste them. Sometimes the yolk is darker and thicker than normal. Can anyone out there help me?
Are the chickens eating any odd plants? It is usually the diet that causes the off-taste.
We let the chickens out, but all they eat is grass and bugs. We feed them laying pellets and sometimes some scratch. Other than that there is nothing else they can get into. Oh, we do catch them in the cat food sometimes and also I feed the horses sweet cobb and the chickens like to eat the grain that falls out of the horses mouth, but that is just oats and rolled corn. It probably is the cat food but they dont get much of that before we chase them out. Thank you so much for answering, this has been bothering me for a long time and no one can seem to give me an answer.
Debbie, If the cat food is "fishy", that could be the answer, but I have never had eggs take on any "flavor"--but then, I doubt my chickens have ever had access to anything that could flavor the eggs--they don't touch catnip, mint, or other herbs--could happen, I guess??? Why don't you pen them up for a while, with just their lay pellets and a bit of scratch--and see if it disappears, then you can follow them to whatever is the cause--good luck and good eggs! CJR
Just curious, are you a beginning poultry fancier? If so, you may not be familiar with the fact that homegrown, free-range eggs are "richer" in flavor, or somewhat stronger. My hens get pretty much the same treatment as yours, plus extra table scraps and I get the beautiful orangey colored yolks.
To Anonymous , We have had a coop for 7 years thats why this is confusing. we"ve had Barred Rocks, R.I. Reds, White Leghorns and Anacona. True these eggs are richer thats why we like them.But then again just this morning one brown egg was extremely sour bitter and these eggs were just collected this morning. We have just noticed though that its never a white egg its brown now we have to isolate which Red or Barred rock it is. Ever heard of an oddball hen that lays bad eggs? Theyre also confined to lockdown for awhile to confirm its diet. Thanks for writing any more thoughts on this are appreciated. Debbie
Debbie: You can find the culprit, but it will take some time. If the problem is dietary, let them range only in one small area, changing the area every three or four weeks. You may be able to isolate the areas and thus the plants that are causing the problem. My granmother used to say that when chickens ate stinkbugs their eggs would taste bad, but then she had a lot a odd beliefs. (sorry, Nana).
I've also got eggs that are foul smelling. I have only started with my chooks, and have two. Only one is laying. The eggs are brown. When cracked open, they have a fishy smell. When cooked, they do have a strange smell.
Andrew: check you feed - does it contain any fish meal or fish oil? Both of these can produce undesirable flavor and odor. Table scraps - particularly onions and garlic, and some fruit peels can cause foul odors, as well.
I have just experienced this same problem. I have 7 hens and every once in awhile I crack open an egg and it smeels extremely gamey and fishy. I will check my feed, but wouldn't all the hend be laying "fishy smelling" eggs?
HELP!
Cristina, Are they absolutly sure that it has not come from the chickens eating scraps of table foods, or certain weeds and things will also cause foul smell. To find a sick Hen, I always check posture, and feathering. You can tell a chicken that is not feeling well, will drop wings, feathers will be ruffled and messed up looking. Look on the ground, this is YUCK but if there is ALOT of green runny droppings Medicate the whole flock. Hens eyes will also be cloudy, and droopy. I would check tese items well. We had a hen that constanly ate green onions(wild) and you talk about stink, those eggs were nasty. You can E-Mail me at hatcherygt@fastdata.net
Hello,is there any one out there that can help me on my eggs,some times when you break open the eggs there are red stuff on the yolk,dont no if this is blood are what
Lisa,
Thanks, Debbie
By Anonymous on Tuesday, April 27, 1999 - 08:27 am:
By 6062 on Tuesday, April 27, 1999 - 06:52 pm:
Thanks again, Debbie
By Cjeanr on Tuesday, April 27, 1999 - 11:36 pm:
By Anonymous on Wednesday, April 28, 1999 - 10:48 am:
By 6062 on Sunday, May 2, 1999 - 12:43 pm:
By Liza on Wednesday, June 9, 1999 - 01:56 pm:
There is a second possiblity - one of your hens may have a recurring infection of her reproductive tract. If you know which hen is laying these eggs, you can have her tested and treated.
By Andrew on Sunday, June 20, 1999 - 08:53 am:
Is there any chicken diseases that can cause the eggs to smell? I am worried, and do not eat the eggs.
By liz armstrong (Liza) on Tuesday, June 22, 1999 - 10:46 am:
If the problem is not dietary, your hen may have infection along her reproductive tract. Check with a vet for proper antibiotics.
By Rob Linder (Robl) on Thursday, October 28, 1999 - 04:23 pm:
I was told that you could smell a bad egg before you refrigerate it, this way saving the embarrasment of giving a bad egg to someone who expects better tasting eggs from free range chickens.
Still would like to know if anyone has definite answers.
Rob
By Cristina on Tuesday, January 11, 2000 - 11:52 am:
I have a friend who has a flock of about 35 and they are experiencing the foul egg syndrome as well. This may seem like a silly question, but if you know that the smell is not related to diet, how do you tell which hen(s) have the reproductive tract infection? My friend and her husband are considering culling them all and starting over. They've put so much work/money/time into the flock that it seems a shame (to me) to start over. They won't even be able to eat the meat because of the concerns over how the infection might affect it. My thought was to give all of the chickens antibiotics. Would this be cost-prohibitive or unrealistic? Or, am I being unrealistic about the fate of this flock? After all, I am a logical person and can see that it wouldn't be very expensive to start over.
Please respond ASAP,
Cristina
P.S. Several of the hens are pets and I know four children who would have a hard time with the decision to cull.
By Anonymous on Tuesday, January 11, 2000 - 01:10 pm:
By Lisa1 on Wednesday, January 12, 2000 - 09:14 pm:
I have eaten some of the eggs and they did not taste bad are smell bad,just some people say the the eggs are going bad,they are pick every day so I no that the eggs are not old,just some of them have red spots on the yolk,and its not a lot of it either,so if any one can help please let me no.
Tank You Very Much
Lisa
By Hewise on Thursday, January 20, 2000 - 04:52 pm:
People often don't see your questions if you post them in the old messages. At the end of a list such as "Poultry Health" there is a button, "Start a New Conversation". Using this will put your message where it will be seen, in the new stuff.
I am NOT an expert. I don't even have chickens yet! But because I want to have chickens, I've been reading books and "talking chicken" to anyone who will put up with me. As to your question I've had eggs from my neighbor with the occasional blood spot and this is what Gail Damerow says about blood spots in her book "A Guide to Raising Chickens":
"Blood spots occur when blood or a bit of tissue is released along with a yolk. Each developing yolk in a hen's ovary is enclosed inside a sac containing blood vessels that supply yolk-building substances. When the yolk is mature, it its normally released from the only area of the yolk sac, called the 'stigma' or 'suture line,' that is free of blood vessels. Occcasinally the yolk sac ruptures at some other point, causing vessels to break and blood to appear on the yolk or in the white. As an egg ages, the blood spot becomes paler, so a bright blood spot is a sign that the egg is fresh.
Blood spots occur in less than one percent of all eggs laid. They may appear in a pullet's first few eggs, but are more likely to occur as hens get older, indicating that it's time to cull. Blood spots may be triggered by too little vitamin A in a hen's diet, or they may be hereditary - if you hatch replacement pullets from a hen that characteristically lays spotty eggs, your new flock will likely do the same."
So you are right to claim that your eggs are very fresh not the opposite! The spots must not be very noticeable when cooked or I'm sure I would have heard about it at the breakfast table.
Hope this helps. Heather