Albumen Quality Question

[aart]

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.

You say she's 2 years old....so 18 months or 30 months old?
Did she always have the thin shelled problem before this last molt?
3 weeks is pretty short cessation of lay during a molt...are you using supplemental lighting?
Is she drinking plenty of water?
Not sure a higher calcium diet is good during a molt,
she may have excess calcium in her system.
Too bad other birds are not present for comparison.
Just some thoughts.

 

[skwarksy]

I,m having the same problems but I,m not sure which chicken because I have3. my girls are 4years old just gone through moult, only the odd day without eggs, the egg does look funny but I still eat them they don,t taste different so I wouldn,t worry too much hope this helps

 

[ZeeAviatrix]

T

You say she's 2 years old....so 18 months or 30 months old?
Did she always have the thin shelled problem before this last molt?
3 weeks is pretty short cessation of lay during a molt...are you using supplemental lighting?
Is she drinking plenty of water?
Not sure a higher calcium diet is good during a molt,
she may have excess calcium in her system.
Too bad other birds are not present for comparison.
Just some thoughts.

Thank you for the reply! She is 18 months old. Yes, she had the thin shell problem before the molt. She didn’t lay eggs for 3 weeks, I thought that was because she was molting. Not sure about whether she is drinking enough water or not. I’ve got a self- filling chicken waterer which I keep clean and filled.

 

[ZeeAviatrix]

I’ve been so busy, I haven’t had the time to fry myself an egg - sorry for the delay! As you can see, the shell is now healthy, the yolk is huge, but the albumen is like jello. Even if you poke it with a fork, it stays firm.

 

[EggWalrus]

There ain't nothing wrong with that egg. It's a mighty fine looking one. Good dark orange yolks, nice high standing whites. That's the way fresh eggs are supposed to be.
You're probably just used to the runny whites store eggs from those malnutritioned chickens.
Good fresh eggs will have 2 kinds of whites/albumin in the same egg. The nice thick stand up whites and a little bit of thinner whites also. That's all perfectly normal.

 

[ZeeAviatrix]

There ain't nothing wrong with that egg. It's a mighty fine looking one. Good dark orange yolks, nice high standing whites. That's the way fresh eggs are supposed to be.
You're probably just used to the runny whites store eggs from those malnutritioned chickens.
Good fresh eggs will have 2 kinds of whites/albumin in the same egg. The nice thick stand up whites and a little bit of thinner whites also. That's all perfectly normal.

Ha, ha, I hear ya, fellow Alabamian! But now, I've had chickens for a while and I love fresh eggs. Millie's eggs aren't like any I've seen before. As I mentioned earlier, I tried using them in a cake recipe and there just wasn't enough moisture in the batter. I had to add milk. But maybe it's okay. At least her shells are magnificent now. Maybe she needs more water??

 

[ZeeAviatrix]

I might add that there is probably an equal amount of egg white to egg yolk!

 

[PirateGirl]

There ain't nothing wrong with that egg. It's a mighty fine looking one. Good dark orange yolks, nice high standing whites. That's the way fresh eggs are supposed to be.
You're probably just used to the runny whites store eggs from those malnutritioned chickens.
Good fresh eggs will have 2 kinds of whites/albumin in the same egg. The nice thick stand up whites and a little bit of thinner whites also. That's all perfectly normal.

I agree and have noticed this with my eggs too. Sometimes the thicker part kinda sticks to the shell a bit and is harder to get out. We had heard that fresh eggs from our own chickens and ducks would be different from store bought eggs, but it wasn't until we'd cracked open and cooked several from a few different chickens that it became obvious how. Thicker shells, much thicker whites, and bigger yolks in general.

In terms of baking with your eggs, are the eggs the same size as the eggs you previously would have purchased from the store to make the same recipe? I guess what I'm saying is that a recipe that calls for 2 large eggs may need 3 small eggs as not all eggs are created equal

Regardless, all looks to be healthy and safe to eat, enjoy your fresh eggs!

 

[EggWalrus]

I used to do a lot of baking, my wife and I had a catering biz. In years of baking, I have found that depending on the humidity, you must adjust most recipes. Say your gonna bake bread of any kind.
Recipe calls for 4 cups flour and a cup of milk, you don't just add a cup of milk and it come out right. Some days you may need to use 3/4 cup of milk for the dough to feel, look, and behave right. Other days it may take a little over 1 cup of milk. Same goes for batters. If you've been baking very long at all, you'll know what consistency your batter is supposed to be like, and you can adjust accordingly.

PS have you tried adding an extra egg if the cake is coming out a little dry? A little extra butter or shortening will make it more moist also. Good luck!

 

[PirateGirl]

I used to do a lot of baking, my wife and I had a catering biz. In years of baking, I have found that depending on the humidity, you must adjust most recipes. Say your gonna bake bread of any kind.
Recipe calls for 4 cups flour and a cup of milk, you don't just add a cup of milk and it come out right. Some days you may need to use 3/4 cup of milk for the dough to feel, look, and behave right. Other days it may take a little over 1 cup of milk. Same goes for batters. If you've been baking very long at all, you'll know what consistency your batter is supposed to be like, and you can adjust accordingly.

PS have you tried adding an extra egg if the cake is coming out a little dry? A little extra butter or shortening will make it more moist also. Good luck!

I used to work with an amazing baker that was constantly adjusting recipes based on the weather. I was in awe. She always just knew what to do for absolutely everything to come out perfect. Now I live at 10,000 ft. and have to *try* to adjust everything for altitude, and the rules no longer seem to apply.