We have had our own chickens for over 20 years and feed them on crushed grain and laying pellets and they eat greens in the fields. The fresh eggs have always been plump in the centre when cracked. Lately the yolks are flat and even if carefully broken into the pan they tend to rupture and leak as the egg is frying. Just like old eggs. what could be the explanation?
Eggs – Yolks flat and breaking
eggs
Related Solutions
Yes, the freshness is the factor. In the US eggs are sold in three grades: AA, A, and B (rare). The grading is based primarily on age. AA are the freshest, and B the oldest.
Here is a diagram depicting the internals of an egg:
The characteristics of the freshest eggs are:
- A large thick albumen (white)
- A small thin albumen
- A sturdy thick chalaze
- A small air space
- A sturdy round yolk when lying flat
As the egg ages the following things happen:
- Thick albumen breaks down, getting smaller
- Thin albumen gets larger
- Chalazae degrades getting thinner and weaker
- Air space increases
- Yolk membrane weakens, when cracked it lies flatter
- Embryo may become visible as a red speck
As a result of the weakening membrane the yolk is indeed easier to break. Michael's suggestion to use your fingers to separate the eggs is spot on. The edge of an egg shell is a little too risky for reliable separation of eggs.
If you want soft and moist, you need egg yolks. Their emulsifier and fat content makes dough pliable, soft and smooth, and retains moisture.
Egg whites dry out a dough. This is sometimes desirable, e.g. in pate a choux. Eclairs made with whole eggs often have wet planes in the middle, resulting in an underbaked impression. If you remove some yolks from the dough and use a mixture of whole eggs and egg whites, you get a firmer, drier dough. But in many cases, people want softer, moister end products, and in such cases, recipes which increase the ratio of egg yolks to egg whites (by using more yolks than whole eggs, or yolks only) will give you a better result.
Best Answer
Age, pure and simple. I used to be a free range egg producer and our chickens were retired to homes happy to have them as pets and occasional layers by the time they were two years of age.
Eggs become larger as they age but as they get beyond two, most hens lay a lot less and quite frequently the eggs can show their age on the inside as well as outside.
Like humans, hens have only so many eggs they are born with and once those have all been released everything starts to slow right down until it stops completely.