Misshapen and deformed chicken eggs
Loading images...

Chicken eggs that are misshaped or deformed are often good to eat, The fact the the egg has an odd shape, or has a build up of calcium does not affect the quality of the egg or the taste. Sometimes the egg shells can be speckled – this is often caused by what the chickens are eating. Causes for misshapen and deformed chicken eggs are as follows:

CONDITION OF SHELL POSSIBLE CAUSES

A. Odd shaped

  1. Inherited

  2. Disease: Newcastle disease, infectious bronchitis, laryngotracheitis, Egg Drop Syndrome 76

  3. Age of hens: incidence is higher in older hens

B. Thin, porous or shell-less

  1. Inheritance influences porosity and ability to produce strong shells

  2. Lack of sufficient calcium, phosphorus, manganese or vitamin D3

  3. Vitamin D2 mistakenly substituted for D3

  4. Excess phosphorus consumption, especially by older hens

  5. Ingestion of sulfanilamide (sulfa drugs)

  6. Disease: Newcastle disease, infectious bronchitis, avian influenza, Egg Drop Syndrome 76

  7. Hens exposed to temperature over 85-90°F

  8. Age of hens: incidence higher with older hens

  9. Premature laying of the egg

C. Rough or abnormal shell texture

  1. Inherited

  2. Newcastle disease or infectious bronchitis

  3. Excessive use of antibiotics

  4. Excess calcium consumption by the hens

  5. Copper deficiency

D. Mottled shells

  1. Primarily caused by high or low extremes in humidity

  2. Inherited

  3. Manganese deficiency

  4. Artificially induced
E. White strain layers producing tinted eggs

  1. Primarily inherited.
F. Yellow shells

  1. Extended use of high levels of certain antibiotics
G. Tremulous or loose air cells

  1. Newcastle disease

  2. Infectious bronchitis

  3. Rough handling of eggs

  4. Eggs stored large end down
H. Depigmented brown shell

  1. Infectious bronchitis

  2. High stress in the flock

  3. Egg Drop Syndrome 76

Checking the quiality of the inside of eggs by candling.

INTERIOR QUALITY

FACTOR

 AA Quality A Quality

B Quality

Inedible
Air cell 1/8 inch or less in depth 3/16 inch or less in depth More than 3/16 inch

Doesn’t apply
White (albumen)

- Clear

- Firm

- Clear

- May be reasonably firm

- Clear

- May be weak and watery

 Doesn’t apply
Yolk Outline slightly defined Outline may be fairly well-defined Outline clearly visible

Doesn’t apply
Spots (blood or meat) None None Blood or meat spots aggregating not more than 1/8 inch in diameter Blood or meat spots aggregating more than 1/8 inch in diameter

Reasons for albumen (egg white) quality problems.

CONDITION OF ALBUMEN

POSSIBLE CAUSES

A. Increased thin white

  1. Inherited

  2. Diseases: Newcastle disease, infectious bronchitis, laryngotracheitis or Egg Drop Syndrome 76

  3. High egg storage temperature

  4. Age of hens: incidence higher with older hens

  5. High level of ammonia from droppings

  6. Loss of CO2 from egg

  7. High vanadium levels in the feed

B. Greenish albumen in fresh eggs

  1. Riboflavin (vitamin B2) in feed: this is natural and is not undesirable
C. Cloudy white

  1. High CO2 inside egg: may result from oiling egg too soon after lay

  2. Refrigeration of fresh eggs at low temperatures (32 to 39°F)
D. Pink white

  1. Cottonseed oil (contains the fatty acids malvalic and sterculic acid)
E. Blood spots

  1. Inherited

  2. Increased blood spots occur with sudden environmental temperature changes

  3. Age of hens: incidence higher with older hens

  4. Deficiencies of vitamin K (probably rare) or vitamin A

  5. Sulfaquinoxaline may increase incidence if vitamin K is marginal
F. Meat spots

  1. Inherited

  2. Bits of ovary, oviduct or cuticle

  3. Blood spots dissolved from blood pigment
G. Spoilage by bacteria and molds

  1. Green whites (under UV light) Pseudomonas bacteria

  2. Black rots caused by Proteus bacteria

  3. Molds can cause either green or black appearance when candled

 

Reasons for yolk quality problems.

CONDITION OF YOLK

 POSSIBLE CAUSES

A. Blood spots

  1. Inherited

  2. Increased blood spots occur with sudden environmental temperature changes

  3. Age of hens: incidence higher with older hens

  4. Deficiencies of vitamin K (probably rare) or vitamin A

  5. Sulfaquinoxaline may increase incidence if vitamin K is marginal
B. Yolk color variation

  1. Pigment level in diet

  2. White yolks:

    • a. Unknown disease condition

    • b. Capillary worms

    • c. White corn, grain sorghum, wheat or barley in ration, without pigment supplement

  4. Olive or salmon colored yolks: caused by 5 percent or more cottonseed meal containing gossypol or cyclopropene fatty acids in the diet

C. Mottled yolks

  1. Nicarbazin (anticoccidial drug)

  2. Gossypol (cottonseed meal)

  3. Worming compounds: piperazine, citrate, phenothiazine, dibutylin dilaurate

  4. Tannic acid

  5. Calcium deficiency

  6. Age of hens: incidence is lower in older hens

  7. Inherited

  8. Storage time, increases with time
D. Thick, pasty, rubbery or cheese-like yolks

  1. Crude cottonseed oil

  2. Severe chilling or freezing of intact egg

  3. Seeds of velvetweed and other related species

E. Off-odors

  1. Chemicals for treating parasites

  2. Fruits, vegetables, and flowers: never store in egg cooler

  3. Household detergents: use only special egg washing detergent/sanitizer materials

  4. Moldy flats, cases or egg room

F. Flat yolks

  1. Weak vitelline membrane: age of eggs, improper storage temperature, age of hens

  2. Indirect effect of poor egg shell quality

  3. Nicarbazin (anticoccidial drug)

Eggs are laid with a natural waxy protection. When an egg is washed this natural protection is also compromised. There are 2 schools of though about whether to wash eggs or not. Those egg companies that do wash their eggs also oil them again afterwards. As this is no a natural process, and that it means the consumer also takes in the oil – we do not wash or oil our eggs. We concentrate on a clean environment for out free range eggs and collect 3 times a day – this means our eggs are naturally clean. A dirty egg, whilst not nice to look at, is just as good inside – if the egg has not been washed.

3 Responses to Misshapen and deformed chicken eggs

  1. Kenneth Kalenga Chimwaso says:
    July 13, 2012 at 3:20 pm

    I have liked your comments but what i did not understand is why do eggs become deformed and small sized where by the breed in cause if of a big egg quality? Sometimes you find that at 40 weeks of age lay normal eggs after sometime the egg size drops from normal?

    Reply

  2. Pingback: How many eggs do chickens lay? | Poultry Houses and poultry coops

  3. Pingback: Are funny shaped eggs bad for you? | Free range eggs

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>