There will be abnormalities in the eggs from new layers for awhile. I always fed my chickens left-over eggs that I boiled and then crushed right in the shell.

Never had any problem with my hens eating eggs they weren't supposed to eat.

Thanks for the reassurance. The watery whites kinda grossed me out because I would normally think: spoiled. But these were fresh and definitely not spoiled. I will probably take that bag of crushed shells and start throwing it out to see what they think of it. Lori

Easy way to see if an egg is spoiled or not is to float it in some warm water. If it lays on its side, or even stands on end but doesn't float, it's fresh. If it starts to float, you probably don't want to eat it.

It's pretty normal for fresh eggs to have yolk, the elastic albumen and also some free liquid. Is the white entirely runny?

I've heard there are two different types of white in eggs...the thicker kind and the runny kind. I think it's normal.

Re: feeding shells. I save all my eggshells and any eggs with blood spots in them for the chickens. I crush the shells very well so they won't recognize that what they are eating is eggshell. I don't want them to get started pecking or eating eggs from the nests! I scramble the eggs and make a mixture of the egg and the well crushed shells. My chickens just absolutely LOVE them!!

Something I got to thinking about was the fact that since they are so fresh, the eggs aren't as dehydrated as store-bought. That was my reasoning, anyway. I have started feeding my chickens with the crushed egg shells with no ill effects.

I had one hen that got a little wheezy on me last week. It coincided with me cleaning out the coop that day. I suspected that it was the dust in the air and thankfully she quit it the next day. With all the bad weather we've been having, it struck me how nasty the coop could get in a relatively small time. I can't imagine what it will be like over the winter! How often do y'all clean your coops? I was under the impression that several times a year was good but with all the poop in there just over a few days of bad weather...I can't imagine!! Lori

Watery egg white can be due to low protien to carb ratio. Increase you protien by 2% every 5 or 6 days-do not exceed 18% total protien for extended periods of time-can cause health problems in adult birds (especially rosters). Some times young bird haven't got the egg thing quite right and usually by 7to9 months old they will get it. Feeding egg shells is good-try putting them in blender with spinage green (or such) and it will color the shells and makes a paste that can be mixed with the feed. They love it. Keep on Chick'en.