Albumen Quality Question

[ZeeAviatrix]

Hello, Everyone!

I have a 2 year old Wyandotte hen who is having egg quality issues. I have raised her from a chick. When she was old enough to start laying, I started feeding her egg laying crumbles from the local co-op but I found her eggs had a few problems, i.e. thin shells, watery albumen. So, while she was molting recently, I switched her to a high quality Purina egg-laying feed, and after not laying for 3 weeks (which is not unusual during the molting process) she finally started laying again. Now, her eggs are a bit smaller, but the yolk is large and the albumen is thick and jelly-like and not much of it. I used two of them in a cake recipe and it whipped up so thick because of the lack of viscosity from what a normal egg would provide.

I did some research reading previously posted articles, such as the one entitled Common Egg Quality Problems, but there is no mention of the egg white or albumen looking like thick Jello!

Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

 

[Kiki]

The new feed...what is the protein level it?

I am reading this now about the thickness of egg whites. It seems that the thickness may go down with age (of the egg). Is it possible that you weren't using as fresh of eggs back then...before the molt?

http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0101-20612012000100007

 

[ZeeAviatrix]

The new feed...what is the protein level it?

I am reading this now about the thickness of egg whites. It seems that the thickness may go down with age (of the egg). Is it possible that you weren't using as fresh of eggs back then...before the molt?

http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0101-20612012000100007

Thanks for the article. It's interesting but I don't think it really applies. I used to have another hen but unfortunately, she was killed by a hawk. So I am down to one hen and I was using the eggs as she layed them, before the molt. They were super fresh.

The albumen doesn't look like any egg white I have ever seen. It looks like jello that just came out of the refrigerator. It almost looks like water is missing out of the albumen. They taste okay - I fried two of her eggs and they tasted fine but they're a little tricky to use in a cake recipe since they appear to lack moisture.

The feed I am using is Purina Premium Poultry Feed - Oyster Strong with 16% Protein.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!

 

[Melky]

In general age of egg, hen, and molting can change quality of albumen. This is normal. The best quality is thicker. See below.

http://www.scienceofcooking.com/eggs/anatomy_chicken_egg.htm

https://www.incredibleegg.org/eggcyclopedia/a/albumen/

 

[Kiki]

Next egg you crack can you get a few photos please?

 

[ZeeAviatrix]

In general age of egg, hen, and molting can change quality of albumen. This is normal. The best quality is thicker. See below.

http://www.scienceofcooking.com/eggs/anatomy_chicken_egg.htm

https://www.incredibleegg.org/eggcyclopedia/a/albumen/

Thanks so much for the reply. I know egg-actly what you mean about seeing a thicker white in a good quality egg. I will need to post a picture to show you how odd the white is in these eggs, however. The white looks like clear, broken up jello, like you just spooned it out of a bowl. But maybe she is finishing up her molt and the eggs will even out. Picture coming soon!

 

[ZeeAviatrix]

Next egg you crack can you get a few photos please?

Absolutely! Picture coming soon...

 

[EggWalrus]

I do know that a high quality fresh egg have thicker whites that stand up higher. There is even a special little tool you can measure albumin thickness.
Your particular case sounds more like you may have accidentally gotten hold of older eggs that have dried out some. That's the only time I've ever seen eggs whites get like jelly. Have you done a float test to make sure they sink? Even if the float they may be edible, just not ultra fresh. If they float and you want to use them, make sure to crack them in a seperate bowl so you don't wind up with a nasty surprise.

 

[ZeeAviatrix]

I do know that a high quality fresh egg have thicker whites that stand up higher. There is even a special little tool you can measure albumin thickness.
Your particular case sounds more like you may have accidentally gotten hold of older eggs that have dried out some. That's the only time I've ever seen eggs whites get like jelly. Have you done a float test to make sure they sink? Even if the float they may be edible, just not ultra fresh. If they float and you want to use them, make sure to crack them in a seperate bowl so you don't wind up with a nasty surprise.

These eggs are super fresh! I only have one hen and I eat/use the eggs as soon as they are layed! When my hen was on the laying mash from the co-op, her eggs had very thin shells and were very "watery," although they were fresh. While she was molting I changed her feed to a high end Purina Oyster Strong feed and now her eggs are slightly smaller but odd on the inside as described in previous posts.

 

[EggWalrus]

These eggs are super fresh! I only have one hen and I eat/use the eggs as soon as they are layed! When my hen was on the laying mash from the co-op, her eggs had very thin shells and were very "watery," although they were fresh. While she was molting I changed her feed to a high end Purina Oyster Strong feed and now her eggs are slightly smaller but odd on the inside as described in previous posts.

Seems like we have quite a quandary on our hands with this one. Most perplexing!