How does Temperature Affect Egg Quality?

Anyone who has bought eggs within the past week or so (ever since it has been extremely hot), you may have noticed that some of the eggs either have a yolk that will break, or a white that will spread out. While you might be inclined to think that the eggs aren't fresh because of those characteristics, don't! As a matter of fact, all the eggs you get to eat are a max of 5 days old from Happy Hen Farms! 

While I try to collect and refrigerate eggs as much as I can on a daily basis, I can't always collect eggs as soon as they're laid, unfortunately. I try to collect eggs at least twice a day, and sometimes three times a day; however, with excessive temperatures (like 106 *F), egg-evaporation is accelerated several times more than on a cool, sunny day. The hot temperatures can also "cook" the egg by starting to break down/denature the proteins of the egg, which, when combined with more evaporation, can cause some eggs (some more than others, depending on shell strength and thickness) to have breakable yolks, or the white to spread out. Egg shell strength is also negatively effected by hot temperatures, since the chickens are less likely to eat as much calcium due to the heat. 

Unfortunately, the commercial technology and equipment used to transport the egg from the chicken, directly to the cooler, is not available/economical/affordable for a small producer like me. To give you an idea, we are talking about equipment that costs tens, and up to hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on the scale of the operation. 

I do find it funny that a lot of the problems affecting agriculture in general are closely related to weather, but it is a very true fact! While I try to not always use the weather as an answer, most cases, the weather is the only answer!