Cloudy Egg Whites

[nh10ring]

We have had hens for about 3 years now, and have started to find more and more cloudy egg whites. Three things have changed, but don't know if any are a factor in this. Has anyone else experienced cloudy egg whites????? or know what causes it???? To be safe, we are not eating them. Any info you may have would be helpful. The 3 things that have changed are:

1: Age. We haven't had any new hens, so those we have are 2-3 years old.

2:Collection. I hate to admit it, but we stopped collecting eggs every day. So now we get them every 2 or 3 days. It hasn't been drastically hot or anything, and I would say the coop temperature has been 40's and 50's as of late.

3: Feed. I recently ran out of layer pellets, and filled the feeder with cracked corn until I could get to the feed store. I don't know as if this is truly a factor as the cloudy eggs started to show up in the winter when they were on layer pellets.

 

[silkiechicken]

Hmm, the feed is probably not the issue and the hens age shouldnt make much difference. As for heating and cooling, even if you put an egg in and out of the bator and crack them open, the whites don't get cloudy, they just get watery.

I say just try to collect every day and see if that makes a difference. I'd say that they are safe to eat as long as you cook them.

 

[nh10ring]

Thanks Silky. Actually I may have jumped the gun. AFTER posting my question, I did an internet search and it appears that cloudy egg whites are an indication of "very fresh eggs." Supposedly the cloudy appearance comes from carbon dioxide and as the egg ages, the carbon dioxide escapes. It seems odd that I am not collecting as often and am observing "very fresh eggs," but that seems to be the consensus from various articles.

 

[Freebie]

Very interesting, and good information to know. thanks for asking the question>

 

[yummy]

Hi,
we have had chickens for over 10 years and, until about a month ago, never had cloudy egg whites. Also they are not all cloudy so I am a bit sceptical about the fresh egg explanation. We have been eating them as we know they are fresh and the chickens appear healthy. I do not like the look though and would like to know why it happens.

 

[suziiibee]

I agree with Yummy that the fresh egg explanation does not hold up, but it's all over the internet. Any ideas about where to look for the real answer?

 

[Mrs. K]

An effect I have seen on older hen eggs is very watery thin whites, where as when you put them in the frying pan, the yolk pops out of the whites.

I would think with the age of your birds, you need to be getting some younger birds in your flock.

Mrs k