Given that, so they tell us, most shop-bought eggs are already weeks old when
they get to
the supermarket shelves, I bet you don't really need to worry - your eggs are
probably
eaten way fresher than they can buy anything else!

But sorry, no, don't know of what you could use. Pencil lead sounds dodgy -
presumeably
pretty much anything used will get into the egg. Have you tried the bulletin
board at
Country Smallholder? There're usually folks who know things there. The url is:
http://www.countrysmallholding.com/content/bulletinBoard/

Best of luck
Sally
(nervously contemplating buying or renting some land to augment the garden and
allotment and get some 4-legged fauna.)

--- In smallholding@..., fbarleymow <no_reply@y...> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Does anyone know if/where I can get a pen suitable for writing dates
> on eggs.
>
> I'm nervous about giving my chickens eggs to friends & family
> without an indication of how old they are and obviously don't want
> to mark them with something toxic.
>
> Maybe a chinagraph pencil would work?, does anyone out there mark
> their chickens eggs?
>
> Thanks,
> David
> (nervous back garden wannabe farmer)