Cracked Egg Query

[jenandsean]

Hello, i've had three chooks for about a week now (they're lovely) but todays egg is cracked - there's a small hole in it, the membrance inside is unbroken so i think in cracked during the lay - my question is...is this egg edible or not?

[chris]

I don't eat any damaged eggs. The hen puts a "bloom" on the shell when it is laid, which stops bacteria getting in through the porous shell. As the shell is broken, bacteria could potentially get in. If it's fresh and cooked well it may be alright, but personally I don't take the chance. You can feed it to the chooks (cooked, and mashed up so it doesn't look like an egg - including the shell if you wish), if you didn't want to eat/waste it.

Just my opinion - I'm a bit funny about things like that though

[jenandsean]

Thanks - new to this but loving it!

[Alison]

When I was a kid there was a woman in the village who sold trays of eggs to everybody. She'd always sell the cracked ones at a lower rate (we often had them) and I remember she said that they were usually from the older hens. Am guessing that this isn't allowed anymore and no idea if we were lucky but certainly never heard of anybody getting ill from them and I must have eaten dozens of them.

[Feral007]

I probably wouldn't keep it for a week and then eat it, but I'd eat it fresh, and cooked.

[RichmondHens]

Yes we eat all fresh cracked eggs too. As long as the membrane has not been punctured they are fine.