Quality of Tennessee-produced eggs

A study of 2850 eggs produced by Barred Plymouth Rocks, New Hampshires, and S.C. White Leghorns during the spring months was made.

In examining the eggs for size, shape, exterior quality, interior quality, shell texture, shell color, and shell breaking strength it was found that egg quality was a characteristic of the individual; this was observed in all the breeds. Shell color was a breed characteristic and tended to be less variable in the white shell producing bread than in the brown shell producing breeds.

A portion of these eggs was treated in oil (room temperature), oil (140 degrees F., 10 min.), oil (212 degrees F., 5 sec.), water (140 degrees F., 10 min.) and water (212 degrees F., 5 sec.) then stored in a cooler (40 to 45 degrees F.), cellar (65 to 70 degrees F.), non insulated room (68 to 94 degrees F.) and a forced draft incubator (99 to 100 degrees F.). It was found that the shell eggs which had been treated in oil tended to retain their original quality better than did the water treated eggs.

Chemicals (Sollax, Trend, and Vel) were used in washing soiled eggs. Soilax tended to remove the foreign materials and stains better than did Trend or Vel.