THE QUESTION:
(This question came to me over Twitter, hence its brevity.)
What’s up with watery egg whites? I read real fresh eggs or old hen I only get eggs at the farm mrkt – think it’s the farm?
THE ANSWER
There is a lot of conflicting ideas out there about why some eggs have a watery or runny consistency. Is it from a lack of protein in the hen’s feed? Or maybe these eggs aren’t fresh? After wading through a lot of online forums, which were not providing straight answers, I found BackyardChickens.com to be particularly informative. Keep in mind that I’m no chicken farmer!
I didn’t find a definitive answer for watery whites, but it doesn’t appear to have anything to do with the freshness of the eggs or how the chicken was raised. Here are six conclusions from BackyardChickens.com:
1. Occasional eggs with spreading (runny) whites are observed originating from apparently normal flocks.
2. The runny eggs tend to be laid by the same hens.
3. The existence of runny eggs has nothing to do with freshness; it can be observed in newly laid eggs.
4. The albumen height and Haugh unit rating is not different between runny and normal eggs.
5. There are differences in biochemical composition between normal and runny eggs.
6. There appears to be a genetic effect on the incidence of runny eggs, suggesting that selection might
reduce the incidence.
Now all of that makes me kind of dizzy, truth be told (Haugh unit??). I kind of understand what it all means, but not really. If I had an egg with watery whites or yolks or anything that gave me pause, I’d just ask my farmer. It’s really the best option, and one I take advantage of as much as possible. It can only be done when you know the person who grew your veggies, raised your chickens, and harvested your eggs. My farmers offer explanations and advice as only they’re equipped to do. And I find them all very reassuring. If these eggs came from a farmers’ market, march right on over to the farmer and ask him or her what’s up. I have a feeling you’ll be glad you did. If they didn’t come from a market, you might prefer buying eggs from someone you can talk to and query when you want to.
Any egg-o-philes out there have a different take on this question? Speak up!
Runny egg whites are almost always from older eggs and is a clear indicator of freshness! Just because you get eggs at a farmers market doesn’t mean that the eggs are fresh. Also, hot temperatures reduce the shelf-life of eggs. For every day at room temperature, the egg loses about 4 days of shelf-life (as compared to being kept in the fridge.) This hot summer can cause eggs not collected frequently to deteriorate quickly!
The other thing that can cause thin egg whites is the age of the hen. Old hens tend to lay thinner whites and yolks that can feel a bit grainy.
I have a FAQ about egg freshness and safety here:
http://www.hencam.com/henblog/handling-and-storing-eggs/
(BTW, I have a small flock of backyard hens.)
I have two older hens which lay eggs with very runny whites and they are runny when fresh out of the nest so as the report above states, it is nothing to do with freshness in may cases.
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My mum gives me eggs that are 1 week old and i have been having runny whites. I wouldn’t think 1 week was old. Her chooks are young.
I was wondering what the problem was. She has had chooks for a long time and these chooks have been the only ones to give runny whites. The old chooks used to be on grass but these chooks have distroyed all their grass and are on dirt. Could this be the problem?
Albumen Quality
The albumen has a major influence on overall interior egg quality. Thinning of the albumen is a sign of quality loss. When a fresh egg is carefully broken out onto a smooth flat surface, the round yolk is in a central position surrounded by thick albumen. When a stale egg is broken out, the yolk is flattened and often displaced to one side and the surrounding thick albumen has become thinner, resulting in a large area of albumen collapsed and flattened to produce a wide arc of liquid.
Properly refrigerated eggs stored in their carton in a home refrigerator will change from AA-grade to A-grade in about 1 week and from A-grade to B-grade in about 5 weeks. However, a properly handled and refrigerated intact egg will retain its nutritional value and wholesomeness for a considerably longer time.
The albumen occasionally contains blood and/or meat spots. Both chemically and nutritionally, these eggs are fit to eat. The spot can be removed, if you wish, and the egg used. USDA regulations, however, classify eggs with blood or meat spots as inedible (see Table 3).
Less than 1% of all eggs produced have blood spots. Blood spots result from hemorrhage of a small blood vessel in the ovary or oviduct. If the blood spot is on the yolk, the hemorrhage was probably in the ovary at the time of ovulation or in the infundibulum part of the oviduct before albumen was laid down. If the blood spot is in the albumen, the hemorrhage probably occurred in the wall of the magnum part of the oviduct. Meat spots are degenerated blood spots, loose pieces of ovary or oviduct tissue, or cuticle remnants swept up to the magnum and included in the albumen.
Leghorn strains vary in the number of eggs they lay with blood spots. Eggs from brown-egg layers will usually show a higher incidence of blood and meat spots than those from white-egg strains.
Ambient temperature has also been shown to have an effect on the incidence of blood spots. Fewer blood spots have been observed with Leghorn hens at 32°C (89.6°F) than with Leghorn hens at 21°C (69.8°F).
Factors affecting albumen quality are listed in Table 4. Excluding disease, the single most important factor affecting albumen quality of fresh eggs is the age of the hen. As the hen ages, albumen quality decreases. An induced pause in egg production (induced molt) has been shown to improve the albumen quality of subsequent eggs. Albumen quality of the eggs is not greatly influenced by hen nutrition. Environment and housing, even heat stress, appear to have almost no direct effect on albumen quality of freshly laid eggs.
Watery egg whites have been shown to be caused by high levels of vanadium in the feed. High levels of vanadium can come from certain sources of inorganic phosphorus. Usually these sources are not mined, but certain high-vanadium deposits have occassionaly shown up in the feed industry.
Remember that eggs are perishable and will deteriorate in quality if not properly handled. Oiling of eggs within 24 hours of lay is very effective in slowing down reduction in albumen quality, but does not replace the need for cool storage.
On very rare occasions, a hard-cooked egg white may darken to a caramel shade due to a high amount of iron in the cooking water or to a chemical reaction involving components of the egg white. Using fresh eggs and cooling them quickly after cooking helps to prevent this darkening.
Michaela—
Where is Table 4? We have recently been encountering that are difficult to fry easyover. The white remains runny even after cooking beyond what we would normally do. Of course that is strictly subjective, but we have been doing easyover for 50 years so I am confident that our observation is correct. Also this behavior is consistent over the last couple of weeks. So we changed stores and the runny whites have disappeared. I have to assume it is the supplier for the store. His flock must be getting old or his feeding formula has changed.
this is the best information on blood/meat spots I have found.. Very detailed and informative..
Thanks for sharing…
HR
Some of our hens produce eggs with runny whites right off the nest. Suggesting that runny whites are from not so fresh eggs may encourage false suspicion of your farmer. I do not suspect anyone is replacing the eggs in my nesting box with old eggs…but that too is possible.