Watery white in egg?

[mommainpa]

Hi all---

New to keeping chickens. I have 13 Australorps and 20 Red Sex Links, all 20-22 weeks old. One Australorp is a rooster. I feed them the organic Blue Seal layer pellets & assorted treats from my organic garden.

The Sex Links have been laying for about a month, so their eggs are now large & dark brown. The Australorps have only been laying for about two weeks, and their eggs are much lighter & smaller.

Here are my questions:

When I crack open just about any egg, there is a well-defined white around the yolk. Then, it's like there's 1/4-1/2 tsp. of water too! Is this normal?

I know that yolk color can depend on diet. Does yolk size depend on diet too? Or is that a variable of chicken age or breed?

(The reason I ask is that I have an opportunity to have my eggs carried in a local permanent farm market. I want to make sure that my eggs are the best they can be before I take them in for consumers.)

Thanks in advance for any wisdom you may be able to share. I don't know what I'd do without BYC for advice!

Shayne

 

[tvtaber]

Your eggs are exactly like mine, so I guess that is good!

The yolk size is probably more genetics than anything else, but the color can be made richer by adding green food such as alfalfa, clover, or just free ranging in grassy areas. My yolks have turned from orange to yellow over the summer as we have had almost no green stuff to feed them and they have been living on laying feed and kitchen scraps. It has made a huge difference. the trick with stores, though, is consistency. As long as your product can be kept reasonably consistent over time and is of high quality you'll gain a good following of customers.

 

[mommainpa]

Thanks Vicky!
Sometimes I feel like I have so much to learn...

Shayne

 

[Colored Egg Farmer]

The water can be quite a few things. sometimes if the hen drinks to much water it will get runny. This mostly happens during the summer when its hot out.

 

[rooster-red]

It can be a sympthom that your chicken at some point had infectious bronchitis.

 

[arlee453]

Can also be a genetic thing. Some hens have a genetic tendancy to lay loose whites in the egg.

Also can mean the eggs are sitting too long before collecting, but if you are getting them daily that's not likely the issue.

Here's a link that talks about the genetic thing:

http://www.poultryindustrycouncil.ca/factsheets/fs_100.pdf