Problem: Yolks Break Easily or are Broken Inside Egg

[Z_chicken]

Hi, I have an EE who has been sporadically laying for 2 months. Every other egg she lays has a broken yolk inside. The ones with formed yolks break upon frying. All my other pullets are laying beautiful strong eggs with no problems at all. Any ideas as to what is happening or how I can fix this? Thanks!

 

[mandk2309]

I did some more research after posting, it appears adding carotenoids into the chicken diet can strengthen the wall of the yolk. Foods like carrots, spinach, kale and meats like mealworms can help. It's worth a shot.

 

[Sagetown]

WHAT? No one has an answer. My chickens are now doing this. Some have been laying almost a year now, and others have just begun. I'm going to do a search.

 

[Sagetown]

Reviving this thread because I would love an answer. Does anyone know why this happens? I collect eggs every day - usually a couple of times a day, and once in awhile when I break one, it comes out runny.

I know it is caused from thin yolk walls, but I suspect the reason for the thin wall could be one or several factors involved, including the health of the hen.

 

[Imhaas2]

I just started getting some of my eggs with yolks that are thin and breaking. The hens are less than 2 years of age. The only change in their diet was that I switched from regular crumbles to organic pellets with no other changes. They have easy access to oyster shells and same amount of treats are given each day. I tempted to go to organic crumbles to see if I see a change.

 

[faykokoWV]

I've not had this problem, but I'm dying to know the answer!
I like my eggs over easy and I hate it when the yolk breaks. It be nice to find a way to make the yolk sack stronger.

I'll wait patiently for an expert to answer

 

[Z_chicken]

Update: I stopped feeding her so much scratch, which helped with the yolks that were scrambled within the shell, but her yolk sack was still weak and broke when I cooked it. Avia Charge 2000 fixed that. It took a few days, but her yolks don't break so easily now.

 

[faykokoWV]

Sounds like you figured it out. Maybe someone will eventually give us other alternative solutions

 

[horsejody]

I have found that when it is really hot the yolks are weaker. I wonder if it was because they were too hot to eat as much and drinking extra water.

 

[Z_chicken]

I guess I didn't figure it out.

We had a run of good eggs and now she's laying either eggs with scrambled yolks or robin eggs with no yolks. Could it be the heat? My silkies are laying perfect eggs almost daily and I'm by the beach so we haven't even reached even 90 degrees yet.