Hiddenspringsfarm
In the Brooder
- Aug 28, 2024
- 6
- 8
- 11
Hello! I have 7 chickens, 4 barred rocks, 2 New Hampshires, and 1 RIR. They used to free range on 5 acres (and the neighbors!) but recently I’ve had to keep them in their coop and run for a problem I’ve never encountered before. Some of their eggs (mostly the yolks) taste BAD. At first it was fishy, metallic bitter almost, just off. Now not so fishy as just a bitter aftertaste, that lingers. You can’t tell until you bite into them. They are collected every day and are always clean. I keep a very clean coop. It seems to be slowly going away, but I am wracking my brain as to what they may have gotten into. For reference, they are about a year old, and all prior eggs before about a month ago have been amazing, what I am used to with free range chickens. (I used to have a flock of 30 several years ago).
Now, when it started there were a few eggs that were terrible, I mean, spit right out bad all of a sudden. We were on the end of their batch of food and I thought that maybe it had gone stale, so they got a new batch and still, the eggs were bad but nothing like those first few. They got locked in their run. Still the eggs were bad but getting better. I gave up a few times and just let them out because they are so used to having so much room. I wonder how long they need to be penned up for this problem to resolve?
What I’m wondering is if anyone else has had this problem and fixed it?
I am assuming they got into something somewhere in the fields or woods (we live in the PNW Washington). I am wondering if some of them ate a snake or a frog or??? Cat poop?? (lol!?) or is it some weed (it’s august and all the grass is dried up but the weeds) is it something gone to seed that is bad?…… can’t figure it out. When I let them out for an afternoon it seems that maybe the taste comes back? Or mayb it’s still disappearing.
Help!! We always used to love our eggs but now we hold our breath when we try each individual one.
Now, when it started there were a few eggs that were terrible, I mean, spit right out bad all of a sudden. We were on the end of their batch of food and I thought that maybe it had gone stale, so they got a new batch and still, the eggs were bad but nothing like those first few. They got locked in their run. Still the eggs were bad but getting better. I gave up a few times and just let them out because they are so used to having so much room. I wonder how long they need to be penned up for this problem to resolve?
What I’m wondering is if anyone else has had this problem and fixed it?
I am assuming they got into something somewhere in the fields or woods (we live in the PNW Washington). I am wondering if some of them ate a snake or a frog or??? Cat poop?? (lol!?) or is it some weed (it’s august and all the grass is dried up but the weeds) is it something gone to seed that is bad?…… can’t figure it out. When I let them out for an afternoon it seems that maybe the taste comes back? Or mayb it’s still disappearing.
Help!! We always used to love our eggs but now we hold our breath when we try each individual one.
. Thanks so much for the link, I will look into it. I’ve googled and googled this problem and no one seems to have found an answer. I’m not even sure what the answer would be, because I can’t tame the wilds for them. I may just have to wait until it truly turns to fall and the season changes to get rid of whatever they were getting into. They are laying lots of eggs and are super healthy so it’s puzzling because it doesn’t seem like a poison to them. Thanks everyone! Keep the ideas rolling…. Anyone had them eat a frog or snake and had the eggs taste bad for awhile? I know it takes at least 10 days for the yolk to form, so that’s the minimum I guess I need to pen them up for to see a real difference in their eggs.
