4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[druids57]

My daughter and her husband had two eggs this week. Today they very sheepishly said one of them was really unpleasant both in taste and smell . The girls have only been laying two weeks so even if I got them muddled up - (I know I havent) it shouldnt have been bad. They said that it may have been them but the other was okay - I am really worried now in case something is wrong and I am going to unknowing poison someone. I dont eat eggs myself but everyone else has said they are lovely. Has anyone else experienced this?

Druid

[meezers]

I haven't, but I wonder what the taste/smell was ? have the chooks been eating anything strongly flavoured- onions, leeks, fish ? I know on another forum someone was experimenting with feeding lots of leeks to his chooks, he said it gave the eggs a pleasant oniony taste but the people he gave eggs to complained and said the eggs tainted the cakes they baked , so they must have been strong !

DH did say one of Elsies' first eggs tasted a little 'fishy', but that might just have been him

interesting to see what anyone else says.

[..lay a little egg for me]

The man from the Domestic Fowl Trust, whom we got our chooks from, said that eggs eaten on the day they are laid taste very different from those left for 24 hours or more. He said he doesn't like the really fresh eggs. Could this be the reason? Perhaps the other, more experienced, chicken keepers could comment?

[Egluntyne]

Have you been a bit heavy handed with the garlic powder, or given them anything vaguely oniony?

[druids57]

Seems a bit of a mystery doesnt it - i only sprinkle garlic powder and the only treats they hae in general is sweetcorn, mixed corn,mealworms, cooked rice and pasta and raisins and i wouldnt have thought that any of these would taint the eggs. Ive just given my daughter another two to try and asked her to be honest. Will let you know what happens. Thanks for the suggestions

Druidsx

[jomaxsmith]

No chance they've eaten any bird food? I heard at a talk that oilseed rape is sometimes used in wild bird food but if chickens eat it it gives their eggs an unpleasant fishy flavour

 

Jo

[Hen Watch]

Just a thought but since egg shells are porous they can take on smells if stored near strong smelling items in the fridge and it can affect the flavour.

 

I have eaten eggs within an hour of lay as well as older ones and not noticed any difference. (But don't use very fresh eggs for hard boiling as the shell doesn't come off easily).

[chickencam]

we had this with one of our original Pepperpots, she was much smaller than the others and only laid eggs between 45-50g in weight, she didn't thrive and had to be put down after about 3 months with a growth in her crop, she was still laying occasionally but all her eggs had this odd flavour.

 

I started keeping my eggs in the fridge when we first noticed this which seemed to help a bit but i have only had one slightly odd one since and that was from a chicken that wasn't quite right on the day she layed it, so i wonder if it is a digestive problem.