Store egg sticker shock, self healing eggs, dissapearing cracks.

[TheGardeningButler]

So I went to grocery store Thursday (Woodmans), and for the first time in 2 months, I went over to the egg section just by way of travel. I come to find thar my investment is paying for its self. I have not bought eggs since. My Girls are happy and healthy and doing phenomenally during this cold winter season in SE Wisconsin. One minor thing as you can see is not getting eggs sometimes in time before they crack. I did however catch plenty just before they fully crack to uselessness. Amazing occurence yesterday. I recall a post on here talking about cracked frozen eggs and how with some minor cracks, they can close back up like it self healed. Well While washing eggs yesterday, i happened to crack one a little more slightly but not beyond the shell bottom. Well in the process of drying eggs, I sat the 2 down out of the 5 collected as show in the photo below. Low and behold, when i picked the 2 i thought were crack (knew it), i could not find 1 crack. In that matter of a minute, the eggs had closed its self back up and I could not even find any evidence of cracking. It was mindboggling. Another 2 saved.

 

[GodLovesU]

Wow! I’ve never experienced this.

 

[BDutch]

One minor thing as you can see is not getting eggs sometimes in time before they crack.

If your egg shells are thin you best give more calcium: higher calcium level in the layer feed, return the egg shells as supplement, give oyster shells on the side and if this not enough crumble a human calcium with vitamine D tablet daily in their feed until they are good. Not sure but this is probably okay for about 5 hens. If you have a rooster give him the choice to eat chick feed.

 

[TheGardeningButler]

If your egg shells are thin you best give more calcium: higher calcium level in the layer feed, return the egg shells as supplement, give oyster shells on the side and if this not enough crumble a human calcium with vitamine D tablet daily in their feed until they are good. Not sure but this is probably okay for about 5 hens. If you have a rooster give him the choice to eat chick feed.

This is from the sub zero -20 temps we get eith the wind chill. Sometimes if I'm not have to collect as soon as they lay them, they freeze and crack open majorly. But I will defintely be adding oyster shells as well. Thank you for those recommendations. I will put them to good use

 

[Mrs. K]

They can’t have a large crack, just a hairline, once the egg warms up a bit, the ice crystals thaw andinternal pressure reduces, the crack closes. We eat them but with in a very short time, those eggs are used first.

 

[TheGardeningButler]

They can’t have a large crack, just a hairline, once the egg warms up a bit, the ice crystals thaw andinternal pressure reduces, the crack closes. We eat them but with in a very short time, those eggs are used first.

Indeed. We eat them right away. Have never had any issues at all.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

If you have a rooster or any non-layers, don't add calcium to the feed, just make the oyster shells available 24/7 in a separate vessel and the layers will help themselves to what they need. Too much calcium can be harmful to roosters and non-layers, damaging their kidneys, and over time can even be fatal.

 

[BDutch]

It doesn’t get very cold here and leaving (misplaced) eggs overnight with -5°C never caused cracked eggs. I can imagine harsher temps are a problem. In combination with rather soft shells they probably crack sooner.

. Too much calcium can be harmful to roosters and non-layers, damaging their kidneys, and over time can even be fatal.

I have two kinds of feed available for my mixed group. Chick crumble and layer pellets. I can’t buy organic feed for a mixed flock for a reasonable price in the Netherlands. And this seems to work just fine.
The oldies that haven’t laid an egg since last summer /autumn mainly eat the chicks crumble. My oldest prefers the wet chick crumble I make once a day.

The neighbour cats, who come to dinner uninvited, seem to prefer the wet chick crumble too.

I always have crushed oyster shells on the side and give crushed egg shells back. The young hens that lay, eat the egg shells as a treat.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

The neighbour cats, who come to dinner uninvited, seem to prefer the wet chick crumble too.

Lol. My dogs love chicken feed of any kind. They are the reason I had to make no-waste feeders with 5-gallon buckets and PVC plastic elbows, they were driving my feed costs sky-high!

 

[BDutch]

Lol. My dogs love chicken feed of any kind. They are the reason I had to make no-waste feeders with 5-gallon buckets and PVC plastic elbows, they were driving my feed costs sky-high!

It surprises me that your dog feed is cheaper than chicken feed.