Egg quality: shell, size, dirty eggs, cracked eggs, and what makes them vary
A house of 2,000 layers at 90% lay produces 1,800 eggs a day. If 4% are cracked and 3% dirty, that is 126 eggs a day that sell badly or not at all: nearly 900 a week, 45,000 over the flock. Egg quality is not a presentation detail, it is a yield. The track taught you to sort and store; this lesson teaches how to measure the shell, read the size, count the dirty and cracked eggs, and above all trace each defect back to its cause in order to correct it.
14 min read · 5-question quiz at the end
By Abdul Hussein ChoumanFounder of NEXTEKCI · Agnibilékrou hatchery since 2006This lesson is part of Laying hens, expert level specialisation. It opens to every registered student, from free registration. Levels 1 to 5 and the tracks remain readable by everyone.
A house of 2,000 layers at 90% lay produces 1,800 eggs a day. If 4% are cracked and 3% dirty, that is 126 eggs a day that sell badly or not at all: nearly 900 a week, 45,000 over the flock. Egg quality is not a presentation detail, it is a yield. The track taught you to sort and store; this lesson teaches how to measure the shell, read the size, count the dirty and cracked eggs, and above all trace each defect back to its cause in order to correct it.
- ✓Measure shell quality on the farm (shell percentage, thickness) and interpret the result
- ✓Read the change in egg size with age and explain the gaps (protein, hen weight, heat)
- ✓Count and classify dirty and cracked eggs every day, and trace each category back to its cause
- ✓Keep sorting and storage at a level that loses no quality between the nest and the customer
- Egg quality is four measurements
- Measuring the shell on the farm: two simple tests
- Egg size: what makes it go up or down
- Dirty eggs and cracked eggs: count, classify, trace the cause
- Sorting, candling, storage: not losing what we have gained
- Going further
- •Four measurements: shell, size, cleanliness, integrity; targets after 30 weeks: cracked ≤ 2%, dirty ≤ 2%, floor ≤ 1 to 2%, total ≤ 5%.
- •Shell test: 20 eggs, dry shells ÷ eggs × 100; ≥ 9.5% good, < 9% act, < 8.5% alert; thickness 0.35 to 0.40 mm.
- •Thin shell comes first from intake (heat), then from calcium (quantity and particle size), warm water, age; pale or soft shell in series is described to the area's veterinarian.
- •Egg size: pullet weight at the start, protein and methionine actually eaten (g, not %), heat; too big after 60 weeks = breakage.
- •Star crack = shell; clean crack = impact (collection, nest, tray); collect 3 to 4 times a day, trays 6 high, never wash, big end up, in the shade.