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Eggs with "fishy" odour

+7
Jonny Anvil
coopslave
Dark Wing Duck
turkeylurkey
nuthatch333
CynthiaM
mirycreek
11 posters

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1Eggs with "fishy" odour Empty Eggs with "fishy" odour Tue Dec 20, 2011 8:41 am

mirycreek

mirycreek
Golden Member
Golden Member

OK I have NEVER noticed anything like this before and our hens are a free ranging bunch, eat lots of things that I don't have any control over, I always give them veggies scraps, lately I think they have had a lot of pumpkin bits, but the other day I noticed my egg was definitely smelling "fishy"....not rotten at all or strong egg, sulphury smelling but just like fish.
Anyhow, I started cracking eggs and noticed some more like that, still don;t know about the taste, cos I gave it to the dogs instead of trying it. I do have kind of a sensitive nose but still this was really obvious, like as soon as you cracked the eggs, I didn't have to hold it up to smell it.
Today I cracked 7 eggs from yesterday and only 1 had it but now I am suspicious of the two dozen I put away from the other day...
We feed our hens 50 % layer ration (16%) from the local Co op and 50% whole spring wheat, I am wondering about fish oil in the layer but did some google searches and came up with info on a defective gene in brown layers? and other stuff..anyone else ever noticed this?

http://www.feathers-farm.webs.com

2Eggs with "fishy" odour Empty Re: Eggs with "fishy" odour Tue Dec 20, 2011 8:53 am

CynthiaM

CynthiaM
Golden Member
Golden Member

Hmmm, weird eh? I can't imagine it being a defective gene, if that was the case, wouldn't ya think that you would have noticed this before? Sounds like it has been quite sudden. Just something really far-fetched, but who knows. I know when bees collect the goldenrod nectar, when that is transformed into honey, people speak of it smelling like stinky old socks, that awful smell goes away after the honey is cured more by the bees, but initial stench. Wonder if they got into some golden rod seeds from plants that may be around your place. I don't know, just far fetched, but hey, ya never know. I would love to hear of others' experiences with this, beautiful days, CynthiaM.

3Eggs with "fishy" odour Empty Re: Eggs with "fishy" odour Tue Dec 20, 2011 9:01 am

nuthatch333

nuthatch333
Full Time Member
Full Time Member

I have heard that fish meal, and flax can cause a fishy odor. Maybe they got into some wild flax seed, maybe it casuses the same odor as the flax seed you buy. Cynthia may be onto something, there is probably a variety of wild plants that have the omega three fatty acids. I am interested to hear what others think. I think I lost a customer because I was putting to much fish meal in my feed and they took on a fishy smell.

4Eggs with "fishy" odour Empty Re: Eggs with "fishy" odour Tue Dec 20, 2011 9:08 am

turkeylurkey


Active Member
Active Member

I remember when I was a child that eggs from a local small producer started tasting fishy. We thought it was because they'd started adding fish meal to the feed, but recently I read information that adding more than 20% soya beans to feed will cause this fishy taste to eggs and meat. I was a child in the 50's/60's and this was an era when they started experimenting with soya to increase protein content.

I'd also recommend getting somebody else to verify the "fishy" smell. Our noses (and brains) can sometimes play tricks on us.

http://www.guppy.ca

5Eggs with "fishy" odour Empty Re: Eggs with "fishy" odour Tue Dec 20, 2011 9:14 am

Dark Wing Duck

Dark Wing Duck
Full Time Member
Full Time Member

What do you feed your cats and dogs? I know it sounds bad , but if your chickens are free ranging it, they may be eating cat / dog poo. Therefore, if you are feeding your cats and dogs any fish or fish based foods, it may be getting to your birds.
Also, I have heard of some people getting questionable oyster shells before. I've never had any fishy ones myself, but maybe that could be another contributing factor.

6Eggs with "fishy" odour Empty Re: Eggs with "fishy" odour Tue Dec 20, 2011 9:16 am

coopslave

coopslave
Golden Member
Golden Member

I am like the others, I think it would be related to what they are eating.

7Eggs with "fishy" odour Empty Re: Eggs with "fishy" odour Tue Dec 20, 2011 9:25 am

turkeylurkey


Active Member
Active Member

I think I also read in the same article that fish, once digested, wouldn't tranfer a smell to eggs or meat.

Contact the feed mill. They have "experts" on staff. The whole thing might have resulted from a mixing error.

http://www.guppy.ca

8Eggs with "fishy" odour Empty Re: Eggs with "fishy" odour Tue Dec 20, 2011 9:40 am

mirycreek

mirycreek
Golden Member
Golden Member

Thanks for your ideas guys, I did think of the oyster shell, seems like they have been eating a lot of it lately but then they always have it and it isn't a new bag...i wonder if you would get much response by contacting feed mill? Since I can't say for sure that my hens are only eating said feed?
Cynthia, we do have some new hens now, so they could be from specific hens? I will try to pay attention to egg shell color and shape of the nasty ones and see if they correlate to any particular bird, it's funny I know but because we have a small flock, we often "know" who laid which egg, well generally speaking anyhow!

http://www.feathers-farm.webs.com

9Eggs with "fishy" odour Empty Re: Eggs with "fishy" odour Tue Dec 20, 2011 9:42 am

CynthiaM

CynthiaM
Golden Member
Golden Member

This is a very thought provoking thread. Wondering about the omega threes for surely now. Borage is a plant that is beautiful, it bears beautiful (it is cousin to comfrey) blue flowers that droop. Some use the flowers of borage as additions to salads, drinks, things like that. I have tasted borage flowers and they taste just like fish oil. Thinking about thinking for sure. Does borage grow around your place? Those plants drop thousands of fairly large seeds, about the size of a match head and are very much beloved by chickens. I am wondering now if there are borage seeds on your property. Do you know what it is? Ever seen it growing around? I'll bring on a picture for you to see for ident purposes. But....my chickens have never had fishy smelling eggs, even though they ate borage seeds I am sure. Just thoughts. I am sure that it is something eaten. But hey, there was that other thought too, perhaps it is in the nose of the beholder....get someone else to smell those stinky eggs, maybe they smell something different...good luck, hope you find out. Have a most wonderful day, CynthiaM.

This is a picture of the borage flower, the plant is about 2 feet tall

Eggs with "fishy" odour Borage

10Eggs with "fishy" odour Empty Re: Eggs with "fishy" odour Tue Dec 20, 2011 9:44 am

Jonny Anvil

Jonny Anvil
Admin

Just speaking from a novice point of view here, would oyster shell perhaps cause a fishy smell?

We experienced the exact same thing here, earlier on this season, seemed like it was coming from pullet eggs and such, eventually it went away, at the time the only extra thing my chickens were getting was extra oyster shell.

11Eggs with "fishy" odour Empty Re: Eggs with "fishy" odour Tue Dec 20, 2011 9:47 am

mirycreek

mirycreek
Golden Member
Golden Member

pretty plant, haven't seen anything like that here, but who knows? I have also been feeding lots of alfalfa leaves this year, just scraping up the crumbs under the square bales as we feed them out...all the chickens and the ducks love them..
.....I did ask another opinion, my dh, not so sensitive in the nose department, said yah one of his eggs smelled strong but it was fine when he ate it bless his heart!
I asked eldest son's opinion and he about fell over backwards when I presented said cracked egg for his nose's perusal!

http://www.feathers-farm.webs.com

12Eggs with "fishy" odour Empty Re: Eggs with "fishy" odour Tue Dec 20, 2011 9:49 am

mirycreek

mirycreek
Golden Member
Golden Member


Thanks Johnny, well I sure hope it passes too, but hate to freak out my egg customers!
Since the only way to find out is to crack them!
wish i was hatching now instead of looking for eggs for baking!
I bet they would hatch fine...but then again maybe if it was genetic you wouldn't want to pass that on!
The article I read said that a certain percentage of brown egg layers carry a gene for fishy smelling eggs but that only under certain feeding regimes would it manifest itself...

http://www.feathers-farm.webs.com

13Eggs with "fishy" odour Empty Re: Eggs with "fishy" odour Tue Dec 20, 2011 9:55 am

Anna

Anna
Active Member
Active Member

I had the fishy taste in the eggs when I got a batch of feed with to much canola oil in it.
After some research it seemed that can only be the brown eggs that can get the bad taste and that it only happens to hens with a "defect" gen. I got only 2 eggs from the 50 that tasted bad.

So, are it brown eggs that taste/smell fishy, and is there a change that they get to much
canola (oil)

I will try to find the info about this problem.

Anna

14Eggs with "fishy" odour Empty Re: Eggs with "fishy" odour Tue Dec 20, 2011 10:01 am

Anna

Anna
Active Member
Active Member

http://www.worldpoultry.net/chickens/breeding/layers/genomic-selection-brings-more-genetic-progress-8929-page-2.html

Layer breeders

Selecting the parents for the next generation of layers quicker and more accurately? It is possible, thanks to genomic selection.
Page 2 of 3
Genome, chromosomes and genes
In 2004 the chicken genome was completed. This means that the chicken was genetically charted so that it was known where all the genetic information can be found. DNA (DesoxyriboNucleic Acid) is the carrier of hereditary information. DNA is passed on to the progeny. A DNA molecule consists of two long strands of nucleotide, the so called base pairs. DNA has four different bases: guanine, cytosine, adenine and thymine; these are abbreviated respectively as G, C, A and T. G and C can jointly form a base pair and so can A and T. The order of the nucleoids in a strand is called a sequence. These sequences establish the code for forming many varying proteins which perform a variety of functions in- and outside the cell. Consider for example digesting of feed as an effect on making egg shell. DNA exists in body cells in the form of chromosomes. Chickens have 39 pairs of chromosome (humans have 23) of which one pair is the sex chromosome. On each of the 39 pairs lie thousands of genes, altogether about 20.000, which contain about 1,5 billion base pairs. In other words: each gene consists of a shorter or longer DNA sequence.
Breeding out “fishy taint”
Trimethylamine (TMA) has a distinct fishy taint which can cause so called “stinky eggs” (or for cows stinky milk and for people a fishy perspiration odour). Normally the enzyme FMO3 transforms TMA into the odourless TMA-oxide which the animal passes in its urine. When FMO3 is absent TMA is not broken down which allows the taint to form in the eggs. Canola shorts is a feed ingredient that can cause fish tainted eggs because it contains sinapine which can be transformed to TMA after fermentation in the last part of the gut. FMO3 deficiency occurred only in certain lines of brown layers and then only in a small percentage of the animals. This deficiency was genetically present. Most individuals can form the enzyme FMO3, but a small number cannot.
Researchers at the University of Uppsala (Sweden) discovered that fish taint is caused in animals that have a faulty FMO3 gene, which causes the fish taint. They developed a test to prove this. The Swedish researchers formed a firm called FunboGen, which holds the patent for this test for all animal species. ISA received the exclusive rights in 2008 to perform this test for all bird species, while primary breeder Lohmann applied to perform the test for chickens.

15Eggs with "fishy" odour Empty Re: Eggs with "fishy" odour Tue Dec 20, 2011 5:56 pm

uno

uno
Golden Member
Golden Member

SOme people refuse to eat my hens eggs because they have an 'off' smell. BUt if you are used to store eggs which have no smell, then any smell is an off smell.

Out of interest, break a fishy egg into a bowl, leave it sit on the counter for an hour or so and see if it still smells fishy. Sulphur can cause a nasty odour, but it also airs out of some things. Example, farty smelling water, often from sulphur, if it sits in a pitcher for a while at room temp, loses that off smell. If the fishy smell airs out, that might help you figure out that it is suphur based. But that 'smell' if it airs out, will most likley also cook out and NOT affect the performance or taste of the egg.

16Eggs with "fishy" odour Empty Re: Eggs with "fishy" odour Fri Dec 23, 2011 10:58 pm

Giddyup

Giddyup
Active Member
Active Member

My first thought was feed too. The gene thing is a bit hard to believe but...?

I had this with duck eggs but it was pretty obvious to us as that was when they were foraging off the creek/water. Once they were kept off the water...no more fishy taste.

17Eggs with "fishy" odour Empty Re: Eggs with "fishy" odour Sat Dec 24, 2011 7:13 pm

pfarms

pfarms
Full Time Member
Full Time Member

I can say that my chickens have free choice oyster shell and kelp meal. My eggs dont have that smell or a different taste. I do sell my eggs and others say the same thing, no fishy smell. I would think it was releated to feed also. I have had others tell me that if they eat too much fish meal they will smell and sometimes taste that way. I personally havent had any issues.

http://dtfarm.webs.com/

18Eggs with "fishy" odour Empty Re: Eggs with "fishy" odour Sat Dec 24, 2011 7:46 pm

turkeylurkey


Active Member
Active Member

Here's a link that explores various reasons for "fishy" eggs:

http://www.blpbooks.co.uk/articles/fish_taste_eggs.php

http://www.guppy.ca

19Eggs with "fishy" odour Empty Re: Eggs with "fishy" odour Fri Dec 30, 2011 1:34 pm

mirycreek

mirycreek
Golden Member
Golden Member

I am still finding 2 or 3 eggs a day with a mild to strong fishy odour. Makes me a little nervous about selling them now and I have got into the habit of cracking each one first (probably a smart thing to do anyhow)before I use any.
My thought today is that maybe I should quit feeding them alfafa leaves as the last two weeks or so I have been feeding them all any leftover leaves after feeding the calves.
They love it and Im sure it does them good, would probably be great for hatching eggs but maybe I should just feed it to the roos for a bit and see if that changes things?
I don't know how long the linger effect will be, but I will let you know if it makes any difference...

http://www.feathers-farm.webs.com

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