weak yolks

[lovinlife]

A man I work with told me his son's farm eggs have weak yolks that break when he cracks the egg. This frustrates him because he likes fried eggs. I have a few hens that lay eggs with yolks that break easily, others are more firm and stand up to the frying pan.

Any ideas on why the yolks would break easily?

I have oyster shell out free choice for my hens and it makes a huge difference in the strength of the shell. Not sure what to do about the weak yolks.

Thanks!

 

[fargosmom]

I have the same problem, and I suspect it's genetic. I'm admittedly new to chickens, but of our four, the two EE's lay perfect eggs, while our BR's lay eggs with thin shells and fragile yolks. We recently lost one of the BR's who was having other laying problems. But since all are getting the same environment and diet I can only assume it was something deficient in the breeding.

 

[Illia]

Two possibilities:

Diet. Are they in a coop and run, are they free ranged? How much of their diet consists of commercial feed? Free Ranging or at least a variety of grasses, vegetables, and insects/protein can really help the state of a yolk, hence them getting darker and firmer once a hen is free ranged.

Genetics. There are a LOT of genetic problems out there in the average hatchery-bred hen. Especially breeds like Sex Links and Easter Eggers. For example, I have an Easter Egger who almost always lays, well, nothing but goop or really fraile, fragile eggs and always leaves a mess on her rump. There's nothing I can really do about it, as EEs commonly have problems due to old stock in hatcheries.