Wrinkled Egg Shells
If the white of an egg (or Albumen as it is correctly known) is watery, it is harder for a shell to be built correctly around it and can cause an egg shell to be wrinkled or have ripples on it.
As hens get older, the whites in their eggs will get thinner but some diseases such as the viral disease Infectious Bronchitis (IB) can also affect the ability of the bird to produce thick albumen (white).
This can cause wrinkled egg shells, even years after infection because hens will carriers of the disease for life.
If a hen has a good diet of a good quality layers feed, doesn’t have any obvious health problems and has access to grit, there isn’t anything that can be done about wrinkled shells.
Are wrinkled egg shelled eggs safe to eat?
Eggs can still be eaten as normal, providing the egg shell doesn’t have any cracks in it. Broken eggs should be discarded as bacteria will have entered the egg (I don’t waste these though, they are fed to the dog).
What about soft or shell-less eggs?
Here’s a short clip to show you what these look like.
Tim Daniels
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