I've got some purchased eggs in my incubator which don't look good at all
when candled. Several of them have blotchy and wrinkly shells. Here is a
pic:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24804480@N04/2342612563/

Are those markings of any significance??

"rumblings" <rumblingsDELETE@gmailDELETE.com> wrote in message
news:64a43qF2a40hcU1@mid.individual.net...
I've got some purchased eggs in my incubator which don't look good at all
when candled. Several of them have blotchy and wrinkly shells. Here is a
pic:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24804480@N04/2342612563/

Are those markings of any significance??

That looks like a weak spot in the egg, which ahs probably let all sorts of
contamination in. I wouldn't expect this egg to hatch, and would never have
selected it for incubation myself.

Amy Blankenship wrote:
"rumblings" <rumblingsDELETE@gmailDELETE.com> wrote in message
news:64a43qF2a40hcU1@mid.individual.net...
I've got some purchased eggs in my incubator which don't look good at
all when candled. Several of them have blotchy and wrinkly shells. Here
is a pic:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24804480@N04/2342612563/

Are those markings of any significance??

That looks like a weak spot in the egg, which ahs probably let all sorts
of contamination in. I wouldn't expect this egg to hatch, and would
never have selected it for incubation myself.


Oh I see! I wondered if it indicated some sort of disease of the hen.
Looking more closely I see that 5 of the 6 eggs have these marks and there
is even a partial crack line running away from one area - so I suspect you
are right. These are actually replacements for the first (expensive) batch
which didn't hatch either. Thanks for providing an explanation.

"rumblings" <rumblingsDELETE@gmailDELETE.com> wrote in message
news:64a43qF2a40hcU1@mid.individual.net...
I've got some purchased eggs in my incubator which don't look good
at all when candled. Several of them have blotchy and wrinkly
shells. Here is a pic:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24804480@N04/2342612563/

Are those markings of any significance??

That looks like a weak spot in the egg, which ahs probably let all
sorts of contamination in. I wouldn't expect this egg to hatch, and
would never have selected it for incubation myself.

Amy Blankenship wrote:
"rumblings" <rumblingsDELETE@gmailDELETE.com> wrote in message
news:64a43qF2a40hcU1@mid.individual.net...
I've got some purchased eggs in my incubator which don't look good
at all when candled. Several of them have blotchy and wrinkly
shells. Here is a pic:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24804480@N04/2342612563/

Are those markings of any significance??
That looks like a weak spot in the egg, which ahs probably let all
sorts of contamination in. I wouldn't expect this egg to hatch, and
would never have selected it for incubation myself.

Yup -- That looks like it might be concussion damage on an egg that does not
have as thick a shell as it might have.
Buying eggs that are then sent by the post are always fraught with potential
problems, however genuine the seller. The post office can do so much damage
to eggs even if they are not actually broken - they can get rattled, shaken,
bounced, and twirled -- none of which does eggs for hatching any good at
all.
Shell quality is one of the reasons why early eggs are not considered to be
good to hatch from.

Its still winter. That and the natural vits and mins
that birds get from the sunlight and the ranging that give so much better
quality of eggs and chicks in the spring.

Candling eggs before incubating with a proper strong egg candler can help to
prevent starting eggs like this.

"rumblings" <rumblingsDELETE@gmailDELETE.com> wrote in message
news:64a7o1F2aqd47U1@mid.individual.net...
Amy Blankenship wrote:
"rumblings" <rumblingsDELETE@gmailDELETE.com> wrote in message
news:64a43qF2a40hcU1@mid.individual.net...
I've got some purchased eggs in my incubator which don't look good at
all when candled. Several of them have blotchy and wrinkly shells. Here
is a pic:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24804480@N04/2342612563/

Are those markings of any significance??
That looks like a weak spot in the egg, which ahs probably let all sorts
of contamination in. I wouldn't expect this egg to hatch, and would
never have selected it for incubation myself.

Oh I see! I wondered if it indicated some sort of disease of the hen.
Looking more closely I see that 5 of the 6 eggs have these marks and there
is even a partial crack line running away from one area - so I suspect you
are right. These are actually replacements for the first (expensive) batch
which didn't hatch either. Thanks for providing an explanation.

I get eggs like these a lot between molting in the fall and when production
picks up in the spring. I think it may have to do with what forage is
available to supplement their layer pellets or possibly may relate to the
length of days. Depending on the seasons in your area, it may just be too
early for the person's hens to be laying decent quality eggs.

Where are you and what kind of eggs are these? Maybe someone on the group
can find you some better quality eggs.

Are shell problems more common in older hens?? I ask as the eggs were
huge (one weighed 87gms) so I presume they must be from older hens.

Nevertheless, four other batches of Ebay eggs in with these ones
averaged over 60% hatch rate whereas I now know of three batches of
his eggs giving zero and one resulting in a single chick.

Candling eggs before incubating with a proper strong egg candler can
help to prevent starting eggs like this.

I didn't know that either - I suppose you mean to detect shell faults.
Fine and good for home produced eggs but a bit too late when they've
made it through the post.

Are shell problems more common in older hens?? I ask as the eggs were
huge (one weighed 87gms) so I presume they must be from older hens.

I'm in Scotland and the (6) eggs are Barred Rock - for which I was
stupid enough to pay the grand total of £33.23 on Ebay. The seller
made them sound really special and I always think it is worth paying
over the odds for good breeding stock.

rumblings wrote:

Are shell problems more common in older hens?? I ask as the eggs were
huge (one weighed 87gms) so I presume they must be from older hens.

Yes, that's something I'd like to know too.

rumblings wrote:
I'm in Scotland and the (6) eggs are Barred Rock - for which I was
stupid enough to pay the grand total of £33.23 on Ebay. The seller
made them sound really special and I always think it is worth paying
over the odds for good breeding stock.

Did you buy these recently ?
There isn't a matching priced listing on the completed items that I can see.
I can see a breeder who matches your description of special but not with a
past listing matching yours. If he is who I think he is, I would be
surprised if you were having problems with 'him' but I have to admit I am a
tad out of the loop of that arena these days.

A_ L _P wrote:
rumblings wrote:

Are shell problems more common in older hens?? I ask as the eggs were
huge (one weighed 87gms) so I presume they must be from older hens.
Yes, that's something I'd like to know too.

Its one of the reasons that commercial birds are culled before their third
season - the shell quality is so poor that too high a percentage are cracked
so making them uneconomic, a high percentage of birds die of egg
peritonitis.

Jill wrote:
A_ L _P wrote:
rumblings wrote:

Are shell problems more common in older hens?? I ask as the eggs
were huge (one weighed 87gms) so I presume they must be from older
hens.
Yes, that's something I'd like to know too.

Its one of the reasons that commercial birds are culled before their
third season - the shell quality is so poor that too high a
percentage are cracked so making them uneconomic, a high percentage
of birds die of egg peritonitis.


I just always took shells for granted. I didn't realise this.

Yes I bought them in Feb from a seller called Chirpy-Chicks. The
price I quoted was inclusive of postage - or perhaps you were
thinking of a seller called jamo-41 who has a similar sort of listing
for Barred Rocks and also claims to performance test. I thought I
might try him next - unless someone advises differently.