I found a mysterious egg in my raised bed - help!

[Potstubsdustbins]

Depends what we mean by fresh these days, when you thing how old some shop bought eggs are. They all seem to have good use by dates on them to.

Could always do what my mum used to do, crack them into a saucer before putting them into the pan.

[Scarlet]

Or you could try the glass of water method. Fill a glass with water, add the egg and if it floats on its side it's gone off!

[Noosner]

Hmm, I think I might resist the temptation... the egg might have been there a while. But I am always impressed when people eat foraged things, as in your goose egg, kt6382. I was staying somewhere once when a chap went out and brought back a load of mushrooms that he'd gathered in the fields for breakfast. I remember that the party was divided about whether to eat them or not. I had some but felt nervous for the next few hours, especially after someone said that the most poisonous mushrooms are the ones that look most like ordinary ones.

[andy_j]

How strange....my dad has just phoned and said he's found an egg.

He live on an estate but it's very rural. There are peahens as well as chickens a few hundred yards away.

Anyway, he said he's just emptied out a large tub full of old daffodil bulbs which was out the front and open to the street and he found an egg.

It was the size of a large hens egg but light brown and buried in among the bulbs. I'll get a photo of it this week.....any ideas ?

[Richard Eldritch]

How strange....my dad has just phoned and said he's found an egg.

He live on an estate but it's very rural. There are peahens as well as chickens a few hundred yards away.

Anyway, he said he's just emptied out a large tub full of old daffodil bulbs which was out the front and open to the street and he found an egg.

It was the size of a large hens egg but light brown and buried in among the bulbs. I'll get a photo of it this week.....any ideas ?

It's foxes. They take them either from bins or from where chickens have been kept. an bury them as a reserve food store . Many people bin eggs if they're past the best before and foxes have learnt this. Happens alot in my garden in london where there are no nesting birds or poulty just thousands of smart foxes.

[Noosner]

Yes, my egg has now been eaten. And not by me. Found the shell on the other side of lottie. That does suggest foxes, doesn't it? There are chickens on neighbouring plots, so the fox doesn't have to go far to hide its eggs, either.

[Scarlet]

That does suggest foxes, doesn't it?.

If the shell was left behind I would say that a bird ate it! When I collect my eggs I have a habit of putting them done and forgetting about them. Birds will eat the contents if I leave them out for a couple of hours

[Noosner]

If the shell was left behind I would say that a bird ate it! When I collect my eggs I have a habit of putting them done and forgetting about them. Birds will eat the contents if I leave them out for a couple of hours

Ewww... so birds are cannibals? Or perhaps it doesn't count as cannibalism if it's not your own species group!

[Scarlet]

Ha! Sometimes chickens get a taste for their own eggs, once into the habit they will lay an egg, turn around and eat it! Good protein.

[esbo]

Don't think birds bury eggs in the grounds certainly not a single one by itself. Also if you have touched the egg the birds tend to know they detect your sent which is why you should never go touch the eggs in any birds nest you find. I expect some other allotment owner is keeping hens and a fox took one of the eggs?

[esbo]

Ha! Sometimes chickens get a taste for their own eggs, once into the habit they will lay an egg, turn around and eat it! Good protein.

A chickens eggs may or may not be fertilised, I expect it likely they eat the unfertilised ones not the fertilised ones.

[Noosner]

Thanks, Esbo. Yes, I think on balance it was a fox, especially as my neighbour has now reported an egg on her plot also.

[Scarlet]

A chickens eggs may or may not be fertilised, I expect it likely they eat the unfertilised ones not the fertilised ones.

A chicken that eats eggs will generally eat every egg that she lays - they aren't choosy. In fact they are so dull that they'll peck at a golf ball for ages trying to get the contents if they have a taste for their own eggs.
If a wild bird eats another birds eggs, their not bothered if it's fertile or not ( most of mine will be) it's just food to them.
If a fox, or indeed a dog eats an egg there's not much left of the shell by they time they've bitten it open. They'll usually eat the shell as well.

[Noosner]

A chicken that eats eggs will generally eat every egg that she lays - they aren't choosy. In fact they are so dull that they'll peck at a golf ball for ages trying to get the contents if they have a taste for their own eggs.
If a wild bird eats another birds eggs, their not bothered if it's fertile or not ( most of mine will be) it's just food to them.
If a fox, or indeed a dog eats an egg there's not much left of the shell by they time they've bitten it open. They'll usually eat the shell as well.

Ohhh, the plot thickens again as there's loads of shell left. So this is my current version: a fox is stealing eggs from a plot where there are chickens and hiding them on neighbouring plots. Then a bird of prey or similar is swooping down and eating the hidden treats. I wish I could rig up a CCTV camera and find out for sure!

[Scarlet]

Nothing like a bit of wildlife drama !