Will hoey

[jomaxsmith]

My Coral came through a near death experience about 2 months ago (she was very unwell looking and leaking clear fluid from her back end and I was very close to having her put to sleep thinking she'd had an egg broken inside her). However, she rallied after a couple of days, I wormed them all and she went into a moult. She hadn't laid for over a month but is now laying almost every day again (the other two are still moulting and haven't laid regularly for months either!). My problem is that her eggs are very strange - her eggs have always had quite a runny white but now it's like water. I can't serve them cooked as boiled or poached, I have to use them in recipes. My black hen's eggs have always got an enormous blood spot in so no one likes to eat those on their own either! It's like a house of useless hens, at the moment!

 

Does anyone have any ideas why the whites are like this? She is fed on mash, with a generous dose of limestone flour (her shells are often thin or soft), garlic, bokashi, poultry spice and diatom. Treats are usually fruit or veg rather than leftovers.

 

Thanks for your advice

 

Jo

[Space Chick]

I'm no expert, but I'd put it down to her age.

 

Ace one of my ex batts lays very thin shelled eggs (despite Limestone flour) and the whites are extremely watery, I too cannot serve mine boiled or poached, so I tend to use them in cooking. I have put it down to Ace's age from other things I have read on the forum

[Egluntyne]

I agree. I've noticed some of my girls produce watery whites as they get older.

[xScrunchee]

Yep same here I'm afraid.

The white never sets properly and even scrambled-they have a 'different' sort of taste

Since tasting her eggs scrambled-I no longer use them in recipes either

 

Roses shells are also paper thin.

Brandee's eggs (on the rare occassion that she bothers to even lay one ) are now starting to go the same way. Watery whites and the shells are getting thinner.

 

Got two new girls to try and get some decent eggs and neither one is laying-they have been here 4 weeks

 

Jasmine is still laying but who knows for how long.

 

You are not the only one with useless laying hens

 

Love them all though

[Lewis]

Can you leave the eggs a few days and see if the whites firm up a bit.

 

Dad was talking about pickling eggs, saying its best to use older eggs because the whites are firmer?

[jlo]

Another one here with girls that I love to bits but are useless on the egg laying front at the moment.

 

BeBe and Tango are laying lovely softies into the poo tray and Bella has had a premature menopause for nearly two months! Esme is the only one laying.Hmmmm ...time for more chooks methinks!

 

I would agree that the whites get runnier with age.

[Hen Watch]

Ditto here too........ 2 old girls still laying (when they feel like it) and 2 retired.

 

I get watery, sometimes bubbly whites and they do taste funny when poached. So I only use them for baking. Also get quite a few 'meat spots' and 'blood spots' too now.

 

Love my girls but am having now to buy extra eggs....... arghhhh......

[xScrunchee]

We have to buy shop eggs now too (Free range of course)

But being honest-they just don't taste right. The yolks are also not as dark and they are no way as fresh as we are used to. Also pretty expensive-I didn't remember how much money eggs were considering I haven't had to buy any for over 2 1/2 years.

 

Happy hens eggs (or whatever they are called) taste much nicer than the regular free range eggs

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I've been having to buy those Happy Hens eggs for a while too . I cracked one of ours and one of theirs into a frying pan yesterday and you could definitely tell the difference. Our yolk was slightly darker and the white was much firmer.