All About Eggs

Egg Facts:

When: Chickens start laying eggs when they hit puberty, on average that’s around 6 months old.  Smaller chickens, like Leghorns, usually start laying around 4 months old.  Larger chickens, like Brahmas, start laying around 8 months old.  There is a drop in egg laying at a year old, then there is a substantial drop off in laying at 18 months.  That’s when commercial egg farms get rid of their laying hens & get a new batch.

Eggs are not baby chickens.  They are Ova, no different than a human female’s period.  In chickens, an Ova is released every 25 hours of daylight.  In humans, it’s roughly once every 21 days.  So in the Summer months, when there are longer days, chickens lay a lot more eggs.  While in the Winter, chickens lay far less eggs due to lack on daylight.  Commercial chicken farms get around this by controlling the light in the chickens houses.  

Eggs come in a variety of colors!  The color of the egg is dictated by the breed of chicken.  You may only be familiar with white or brown eggs from the grocery store, here’s why:  White Eggs form the grocery store come from White Leghorns.  They are the top egg laying breed, in fact, they hold the world record for eggs laid on consecutive days.  The brown eggs in the grocery store come from ISA Browns.  They are the second best breed for egg laying.  The chickens that lay the fun colored eggs don’t lay as many.  So economically speaking, those breeds aren’t as profitable to keep around.

Stress reduces laying.  Things that stress chickens include but are not limited to: meeting new chickens because it upsets the pecking order, a change in routine, predators coming around, change in diet, bad weather (only if you have your hens on pasture).  When it’s too hot out, the chicken’s body is more focused on cooling off instead of egg laying.  When it’s too cold, the chicken’s body is more focused on staying warm instead of egg laying.  Commercial egg farms control the temperature in the hen houses.  Since our hens are on pasture, we give our chickens cold treats (like frozen fruit) in the Summer & warm treats (like oatmeal) & warm water in the Winter.  They always have to option of going inside their coop (house) as they so choose.

No Boys allowed!  Most farms don’t bother having a Rooster (male chicken) because you only need them if you want baby chickens.  Chickens lay eggs due to daylight, males aren’t needed for that.  Don’t get me wrong, Roosters can be helpful in protecting chickens that are out on pasture.  But most farms don’t put chickens on pasture & they aren’t going to feed a Rooster for no good reason.  If you’ve ever seen a video where someone goes to the grocery store, buys eggs, & hatches them at home; please know that video totally lied to you.  Also, if you’ve seen the videos where someone hatches eggs by carrying them around in their bra, that’s also a lie.  Eggs need a very specific humidity, temperature, & rotation schedule that the human body wouldn’t be able to do.  If you buy eggs from a small farm, they may or may not have a Rooster.  You can tell if an egg was fertilized if there is a bullseye in the yolk.

What’s in an Egg?  A Quail Egg is different than a Chicken Egg, both are different than Duck Eggs, not just in size but in nutrients & cholesterol levels as well.  Different kinds of eggs have different protein structures.  This is important to know when using eggs.  For example, Duck Eggs have less water content & higher fat content than Chickens Eggs.  This makes Duck Eggs superior for baking but not as good for scrambling or frying.

The Float Test:  The Float Test is when you place an uncooked egg in a glass or bowl of water to see if it floats.  This can tell you the general age of the egg.  It can NOT tell you if an egg is safe to eat.  When an egg is laid, there is a wee air bubble in there.  Egg shells are porous.  So as the egg ages, water inside the egg evaporates & the air bubble grows larger.  The more the egg floats, the older it is.  The Float Test can NOT tell you if dangerous pathogens have entered the shell.  That is an old wives tale.  

Why Store Bought Eggs are Easier to Peel:  Legally speaking, a farm has 30 days to get the eggs off of the property.  Legally speaking, a grocery store then has 30 days to sell the eggs.  So when you buy eggs at the store, they can be up to 60 days old.  Buying directly from a farmer cuts out the middle man & gets them to you faster.  Check the side of your egg carton.  There is a three digit number, 001-365.  That number tells you the day of the year your eggs were laid on: 001 is January 1st while 365 is December 31st,  It also has a Best By Date.  Best By means exactly that.  The eggs don’t expire on that date, they just can’t be guaranteed to be as perfect as they once were.

Storing Eggs:  In the EU, the government mandates that all chickens be vaccinated against Salmonella.  They do not wash their eggs, therefore, the eggs can be stored at room temperature.  In the US, the government mandates that all eggs be washed before they are sold to avoid Salmonella.  Washing eggs removes the Bloom.  The Bloom is a clear antimicrobial coating that is the very last thing that happens to the egg as it’s laid.  Removing the Bloom opens the pores of the eggs shell so you must refrigerate eggs after washing.  Random tidbit for you:  Fat absorbs odors.  So store your eggs & cheese as far from cut onions or smelly food as you can.

How Will I know if an egg has gone bad? Short answer is: your nose.  When you open your refrigerator door a really bad smell is going to hit you.  Like a mix of sulfur & death.  When you get close to the egg carton, that smell will intensify in a way you didn’t know was possible.  When you open that egg carton it will smell like Satan himself took a big ‘ole dump in there.  If you’re silly enough to want to crack open that egg, do it outside or the smell will permeate your house for a week.  Inside the egg will be black & purple & the smell will make you gag or toss your cookies.  Eggs go rotten when the air bubble touches the yolk.  Eggs are stored pointy end down to give you as much time possible before the air touches the yolk.  I kept a carton of eggs in the back of my college fridge for a year to learn this the hard way so you don’t have to.  You’re welcome.

Eggs are one of the 9 Major Allergens.  You can be allergic to Chicken Eggs but be fine with Duck Eggs (like the actress Margot Robbie).  You can be fine with Chicken Eggs but have a Duck Egg allergy.  The most common allergic reaction to eggs is Gastrointestinal Distress (stomach cramping, vomiting, diarrhea).