question about yolks

[lovinlife]

A guy I work with told me his son's hens lay eggs with weak yolks, meaning the yolks break easily when he cracks the egg. He likes fried eggs and a broken yolk is not desireable.

I must admit that a few of my eggs have done the same thing. I keep oyster shell out all the time and the shells are nice and firm. Most of the yolks are firm but I do occasionally have some break. He said his son's are all like that and wants to know what can be done about it.

Anyone else have this problem or know what to feed the hens to fix it?

 

[PunkinPeep]

It might have something to do with the heat. Does he/you refrigerate the eggs before breaking? That might help the yolk regain its form. Just a thought.

 

[lovinlife]

I got the impression this wasn't just a recent thing due to the heat. I'll suggest he refrigerate them before using, but my guess is that he's already doing that.

He said his son is feeding them Layena pellets, so I'm not sure what would be causing this.

No one else has had this issue?

 

[halo]

I think its possible that its the genetic make up of the hen laying that egg. I have a fairly large flock, and I do get a few eggs that are that way. I know which hens lay them, and I dont ever hatch them. They always break when I break the eggs open; I save them for the dogs. Not that theres anything wrong with them; I just like to see an entire yolk when I crack open an egg.

 

[al6517]

I have found that with home flock eggs the shells are so much better and tougher to crack and this sometimes causes an occasional break, when I use to crack store bought eggs they just cracked like paper all runny and thin, not so with real flock eggs. I would just get better at cracking them that's all.

AL

 

[lovinlife]

Thank you for that input. Al, you may have something there. I know that when I'm frying eggs, I am very careful how I crack the eggs. I'll pass along the advice.

 

[dragonlair]

Could it be a lack of some nutrient, maybe Vit A? What color are the yolks? I know mine get like that in the winter when there's no greens available. The eggs got better after I added foods wth high Vit A/Beta-Carotene content.