egg question please

[old fashioned]

My question relates to the thin membrane around & encloses the yolk from the white (not the one between the egg & shell).
Whenever I've tried to fry our eggs the yolks break way too easily, no matter how careful I am in handling/cooking.
They get Layena free choice during the day & treats on occaision, usually atleast once a day that include protein, calcium, grain & greens. Depending on availability this may include kitchen scraps, worms, crushed egg shells, bugs, veggies, grass, dandelion greens & clover picked from the yard, bread, scratch grains, bird seed & other stuff. This has been their diet in varying amounts since we got chickens in Sept 09.
Right now our remaining hen & roo are kept enclosed with only limited supervised access to the yard about 2 or 3 times a week for about an hour or so before roost time. There are many reasons for all this & too much to include here, but quality of the eggs have been the same even when given free access to roam.
So environment & diet haven't really been a factor & I'm wondering if anyone knows what could make for weak yolks?
Thanks to all

 

[tortoise]

I found this interesting article this morning.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps020#TABLE_5

 

[Dace]

Are you flipping or using a spatula? Maybe it is your technique that is breaking the yolks, not the chickens?

 

[noobiechickenlady]

Dace, you made me think about teaching DH how to fry an over easy egg (thanks Dad). DH kept breaking the yolks when he flipped them.

I don't flip them. I use enough oil so there is enough to use a spatula to splash the hot oil over the top of the egg to cook the white. I don't splash it all over the egg, just on the white until it looks done, then I splash a couple of times over the entire egg.

Not saying that's your problem OF, just putting it out there
I did find this:
http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=192993

 

[Dace]

How to correctly flip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anZVnJiEV5M&feature=fvw

By the way....it is very helpful to first practice for a while with a cold pan and about a half cup of dried beans.

 

[old fashioned]

No it even breaks when I crack them into the pan & it's not my cracking or flipping cause I've fried many an egg in my life & never had such a problem with store bought as I do with homegrowns.

I tap the egg on the side of the pan to crack the shell enough that I can pull it apart with my thumbs to release the egg into the pan. If the yolk has held up thus far & the white has cooked enough to set, I slide the spatula under the egg & kinda roll it over.
Scrambled eggs are great, but we also love to dip our toast or biscuits in the soft yolk. It has really become a challenge.

ETA-I had posted before watching the flip link. My hens eggs would never be able to withstand pan flipping.

 

[Dace]

I have no idea...it sounds like you are doing everything right!

 

[ToLiveToLaugh]

The only thing I could think would be genetics on the chickens. What type of critters do you have? With that varied of a diet and environment, I can't think of any other reason. Dunno, never heard of anything like this!

 

[miss_thenorth]

My grandmother always cracked an egg into a bowl, and then emptied the bowl gently into the frying pan. her reasoning was two fold--one- not to break the yolk, and two--to check and remove bloodspots. I never bothered, since I don't mind if they do break.

 

[old fashioned]

In checking the other links provided, I'm beginning to think it may be due to hens age &/or hereditary.
I was told they all were about 1 to 1 1/2 yo when we got them last Sept. but I'm really starting to question the information we got from the people we got them from. It was thru a private party & they appeared to be trustworthy. They had a nice place & set up with around 30+ chickens all well cared for. I'm not a perfect judge of character, but can usually tell when someone is lying or storytelling or just money grubbing scammers and this was NOT the case.
But one hen (Nugget) has since died from I'm suspecting a neuro problem, since she tended to walk/lean to one side almost like a stroke victim & walked *standing up* while dragging her tail. I had checked her many times for egg binding, since she had only laid about 3 eggs the beginning of January and died the end of Feb.

Then about 6 weeks later (first of this month) Popcorn died & this one I think from being eggbound. I found pieces of leathery shell stuck to her butt & yellowish goop around & she looked all hunched up. These changes all happened within a week from onset to death. Popcorn had been a fairly reliable layer usually every day or every other day.

Now we only have Strip & Roadrunner (roo) left who seems to be quite healthy. Strip had been chewed by the neighbor dog in Dec & had an egg laying vacation till she healed up. Although I have noticed in the last day or two that Strip has taken longer to lay her egg. Usually I'd get her egg before 9am, now not until 10:30 or 11am & I'm hoping this isn't her first signals of egg binding as it seems to have started this way with Popcorn.
Anyway, I gather the egg(s) daily and take them straight to the fridge to be put on a middle shelf in a carton and are then used within 2 weeks or less. When the carton is full, I start using up the eggs & last night we had breakfast for dinner.
Sorry about the ramble, but I'm guessing the hens were older (& sicker)than I was told. It's the only thing I can think of as a reason for weak yolks.


Thanks for everyones help