Kayelle
Chef Extraordinaire
MC, as a child it was my job to put the eggs into paper bags in our "mom & pop grocery store". They were huge "double yolkers" and we sold them in bags of a half dozen. I am truly ancient too. 
Egg Question
- Thread starter CarolPa
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MC, as a child it was my job to put the eggs into paper bags in our "mom & pop grocery store". They were huge "double yolkers" and we sold them in bags of a half dozen. I am truly ancient too. 
Mad Cook
Master Chef
That article was really interesting. We are often told that our practices are inferior to American ones but it's not often that we're told that our food hygiene rules are tighter than American ones.
'Fridges here always come with egg racks but we are frequently told by the food
cognoscenti
not to store our eggs in the 'fridge.
Mad Cook
Master Chef
When I was little we got our eggs from the local farmer who supplied our milk and butter. A lot of those were double yolkers.
I get my eggs from a friend now. Quite often she will say "These come with Daisy's (or Mildred's etc,.) compliments. I rather like the idea of my eggs being "named".
Mad Cook
Master Chef
I think that may be due to hen health...but I am not sure.[/QUOTE]I was told many years ago that it was to do with the hen's diet, which would tie in with the health issue.
CWS4322
Chef Extraordinaire
Each of my hens lays eggs that have a very distinct "egg print." I can tell which lady laid each egg and for my friend who has young children, I always make a point of telling the boys which lady laid which egg (These are the boys that cry "oh goodie! REAL eggs" when they get their cartons). It has gotten so the boys can recognize Myrtle's egg, Jezzabelle's egg, Pearl's, Opal's and Miss Betty White's. They love it that the eggs come from hens with names. I like to think that the experience of getting eggs from "the egg lady" will have a lasting impact on how these boys view from where their food comes when they are adults. (And the boys loving coming out to the "country" to see the girls).
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CWS4322
Chef Extraordinaire
Brown shells are thicker than white shells. RIR (Rhode Island Reds) hens lay brown eggs. That's why New Englanders have mostly RIR.
[/QUOTE]Okay, I'm going to answer the "thickness of the shell" question. All hens, regardless of age or breed produce the same amount of shell. Small eggs will have thicker shells. Eggs from more mature hens, have a thinner shell. It also has to do with the balance of calcium in the hen's diet. It does not have to do with the health of the hen, to my knowledge. I found it interesting that regardless of the size of egg laid, the amount of shell is the same. I have, however, found that my Plymouth Rocks laid smaller eggs than the RIRs and their shells were, consequently thicker. So yes, some breeds lay smaller eggs and those eggs will have thicker shells. My hens lay large-jumbo eggs, to "off the grading scale" eggs, so I'm probably not a good source to ask! And, the amount of water each hen needs per day is the same amount of liquid in an egg. They can go without food (witness broody hens), but they cannot go without water for 24 hours.How many eggs a hen lays in her lifetime depends on breed. Some breeds are prolific layers, others are poor layers. The breeds I selected are supposed to be excellent/prolific layers and lay anywhere from 260-340 eggs/year for the first 18 months, fewer eggs annually following the first molt. Myrtle (now 4+) is in peri-henopause. She doesn't lay daily, but she consistently gives me double yolkers that are larger than a turkey egg, smaller than a goose egg (around 110-118 g).
RIRs start laying a bit later than breeds "designed" to be layers.
How long do hens live? They can live into their teens. When do they stop laying eggs completely? Depends on the breed, but it is not uncommon for an 8-yr. old hen to "pop out" an egg every now and again.
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CWS4322
Chef Extraordinaire
Do the float test (or you can try to stand the eggs up on end). If they stay on the bottom, horizontal, they are fresh. If they tilt a bit, they are not as fresh. If they rise to the top, vertically, bob in the water, they are old eggs.
Green or blue shells are from breeds that lay that colour of egg (their ears should be that colour--but that might be an old wives' tale that ear colour determines shell colour. It holds true with my hens, but I don't have any Easter Egg hens). These birds are commonly called "Easter Egg" hens, but there are several breeds that lay green, blue, or even lavender eggs.
CarolPa
Executive Chef
I have boiled eggs that stood up vertical in the water, but didn't float. They were fine, and the shells came off very easily.
The eggs I buy at Aldi's are a good bit cheaper than those elsewhere. Their large eggs are bigger, too. But I did notice that the shells were thinner and wondered why. It makes sense, since they are bigger eggs.
I often see those pkgs of already boiled peeled eggs in the supermarket. Why do people buy them? You have no idea when they were boiled. It would make more sense to me to just buy a dozen eggs and boil them yourself.
The eggs I buy at Aldi's are a good bit cheaper than those elsewhere. Their large eggs are bigger, too. But I did notice that the shells were thinner and wondered why. It makes sense, since they are bigger eggs.
I often see those pkgs of already boiled peeled eggs in the supermarket. Why do people buy them? You have no idea when they were boiled. It would make more sense to me to just buy a dozen eggs and boil them yourself.
Kayelle
Chef Extraordinaire
Must be for people who "can't boil water".
Actually they're probably aimed at working people who run into the store to pick up something quick for lunch.
Mad Cook
Master Chef
There is still a significant number of people over here who firmly believe that brown eggs are "better for you" than white ones and will not be persuaded otherwise. I've noticed over the last few years that supermarket eggs are now nearly all brown apart from the cheap "value" eggs. Obviously they have jumped on the bandwagon. I've read about breeds that lay coloured (ie blue, green, etc.,) eggs but never actually seen them "in the flesh"
Can you actually see hens ears? Or is this a joke?
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CrazyCatLady
Sous Chef
Wow, I just thought eggs were just eggs. How interesting!
CharlieD
Chef Extraordinaire
I know when my grandmother had chickens she used to ground some yolks and add to the food she was given them. She always told me it was to increase calcium intake so the shelves would be stronger.
CharlieD
Chef Extraordinaire
CWS4322
Chef Extraordinaire
Yes, you can see a hen's ears.
CWS4322
Chef Extraordinaire
I give the shells back to the flock unless I've soft/hard cooked the eggs. I have also heard that feeding them ground up hard cooked eggs (whites and yolks) helps re: calcium. In the winter, I also add calcium because they can't forage and get nutrients from grass and other plants.
CWS4322
Chef Extraordinaire
Chickens are much more complex than people think. They have excellent colour perception, can recognize up to 100 "members" in a flock, can learn their names, be housebroken, learn to mimic human sounds much like parrots, and are very curious. If you change one thing in their environment, they notice it immediately and must check it out. They are natural problem solvers. If more people spent time with chickens, we might see an end to battery farms in North America. And some like to stick their heads out the window when riding shotgun in the car <g>.Nothing what it seems to be. Trust no one.
I also have my own chickens - Buff Orpington, Jersey Giant and, the resulting cross breed.
Older hens lay larger eggs, Jersey Giants tend to start at large and move to jumbo size, Buffs start medium and go to extra large. The cross bred ones start at small and go to jumbo as they age.
Other factors are diet of the hens and, if they are molting or not, a poor or inadequate diet and molt get fewer and smaller eggs with smaller ore more pale colored yolks.
I sell a few to friends and, I do not wash the eggs since washing removes the natural coating that helps them keep longer and, they can easily be rinsed off before using them.
Older hens lay larger eggs, Jersey Giants tend to start at large and move to jumbo size, Buffs start medium and go to extra large. The cross bred ones start at small and go to jumbo as they age.
Other factors are diet of the hens and, if they are molting or not, a poor or inadequate diet and molt get fewer and smaller eggs with smaller ore more pale colored yolks.
I sell a few to friends and, I do not wash the eggs since washing removes the natural coating that helps them keep longer and, they can easily be rinsed off before using them.
CarolPa
Executive Chef
Must be for people who "can't boil water".
Actually they're probably aimed at working people who run into the store to pick up something quick for lunch.
The ones in my supermarket are 3 in a pkg and in WalMart, 6 in a pkg. I have only noticed one woman putting them in her cart. I wanted to ask her why she was buying them, but she would probably tell me to mind my own business. She just checked the exp date and away she went. At one job I had you could get 2 HB eggs in a pkg out of the vending machine.
CarolPa
Executive Chef
We rarely see brown eggs in our supermarkets. We pass a sign out in the country that the farmer is selling brown eggs, but we've never stopped. DH won't eat brown eggs. He has a lot of food idiosyncrasies. (I don't really know what idiosyncrasies means, but it sounds like "idiot.") LOL
Addie
Chef Extraordinaire
Welcome to DC Blue Moods. So glad to have another chicken lady.
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