'LIBRA FLY OF THE. U N I VER.S ITY or ILLINOIS 63O.7 U6b no-433-444- CIRCULATING Studies of the MARKET QUALITY of EGGS From 109 Farms in Southeastern Illinois By H. H. ALP R. C. ASHBY L. E. CARD UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION Bulletin 4 4 1 CONTENTS FACE STUDIES IN 1936: SHIPMENTS FROM NINE COUNTIES 399 Rail and Truck Preserved Quality Equally Well 402 Market Quality of Test Eggs Not Improved by Icing Cars 402 Storage Quality of Test Eggs Only Fair 403 Large Eggs Graded Higher Than Small Eggs 404 Hot Weather Affected Market Quality Only Slightly 404 Production Practices Influenced Market Quality 406 Moisture Needed in Storage Place 406 Limited or Confined Range Preferable 407 Large Flocks Produced Better Eggs 408 Commercial Flocks Gave High-Quality Eggs 408 Quality of Eggs Varied Widely Among Counties 409 STUDIES IN 1935: SHIPMENTS FROM ONE COUNTY 410 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS... . 411 Urbana, Illinois April, 1938 Publications in the Bulletin series report the results of investigations made by or sponsored by the Experiment Station Studies of the Market Quality of Eggs From 109 Farms in Southeastern Illinois H. H. ALP, R. C. ASHBY, and L. E. CARD' OUTHEASTERN ILLINOIS farmers who are especially inter- ested in marketing eggs on a quality basis have, for a number of years, shipped eggs to the New York market, where the quality ( requirements are definitely high. In the main this marketing has been ' done individually. Consequently volume was small, and because truck service had not been developed, shipments had to be made either by express or by l.c.l. 2 freight. Since these producers were not very successful in realizing top prices for their eggs, it was considered desirable to try to find the nature of their difficulties and to determine where improvements might be effected ; thus assisting all Illinois poultrymen in marketing quality eggs. Test shipments under the supervision of the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station were made in both 1935 and 1936. The 1935 ship- ments were from one county, and opened the way for more adequate tests with shipments from nine counties in 1936. Sixty-three cases of eggs (1,890 dozen) were shipped the first year, and 586 cases (17,580 dozen) the second year. It is realized that the materials presented here do not give final answers to many of the questions and problems involved. Nevertheless the apparent trends and indications found are considered of sufficient importance to record, and it is hoped that they will be of some value to those in the poultry industry who are interested in the production and marketing of quality eggs. STUDIES IN 1936: SHIPMENTS FROM NINE COUNTIES The 1936 tests included a comparison of rail and truck shipments of eggs with respect to their final quality at the New York market ; a test of the storage quality of the Illinois eggs ; observation of the effect of temperature on the weight and quality of eggs shipped in June and July; some preliminary work concerning the quality of October eggs; and a study of the relation of production practices to egg quality. 'H. H. ALP, Assistant Professor of Poultry Extension, R. C. ASHBY, Chief in Livestock Marketing, and L. E. CARD, Chief in Poultry Husbandry. 5 Less than carload lots. 399 400 BULLETIN No. 441 TABLE 1. NUMBER OF CASES OF EGGS SHIPPED TO NEW YORK ON DIFFERENT DATES, AND METHODS OF SHIPMENT, 1936 TESTS Date By rail By truck Total June 12 94 14 108 June 19 134 16 150 June 26 128 13 141 July 3 86 11 97 July 10 82 8 90 Total 524 62 586 The 586 cases of eggs shipped in the 1936 tests (Table 1) came from 109 producers in nine counties. These counties are listed in Table 8. The eggs were assembled at Olney, where the cooperative creamery provided suitable facilities for grading and handling them prior to shipment. The producers who lived only a few miles from Olney de- livered their own eggs to the shipping point, but most of the eggs were brought from the surrounding counties by cream trucks, producers paying the truckmen a cent a dozen for hauling. These trucks were not in any way especially equipped to handle eggs, but all the egg cases were covered with canvas. The eggs were picked up on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and were loaded out for New York early on Friday morning. The June and July eggs graded, at the shipping point and at New York, as follows: At shipping point At New York perct. perct. Extras 59.5 50.5 Standards 40.4 47.1 Trades.. .1 2.4 Change perct. -9.0 +6.7 +2.3 Since the flock owners cooperating in the study were considerably better poultrymen than the average farm flock owners of the area, the eggs handled graded better than could be expected from the average run of current receipts from the territory. Upon arrival at Olney all eggs were closely inspected as to grade, weight, and general condition of pack. No attempt was made to repack any lot. All grade factors were recorded on a grading sheet for each shipper ( Fig. 1 ) . All shipments were consigned to the Grange League Federation Egg Marketing Service, 190 Duane Street, New York City. Upon arrival in New York all eggs were again checked as to grade, weight, and general condition. This work was done by Dr. J. C. Huttar, Manager of the G. L. F. Service. Differences arising from STUDIES OF THE MARKET QUALITY OF EGGS 401 WS - co 2 ^ 2 J D ^ O J hH H-l fc s *, ofc; gS > H "- J 2 8 3 - : Is **3 i : 7 * V 8 j u ' a 0. _ " iJ i X H 2 ^ H V M j< (A B e at ma I'f If = y H ! * u - en IP H 3 j g - s shipment _a 1 tt* i O V 1 = -- I*! ^ CO V i H O u O -~ C/J W 1 o lj o 2 - i i c 1*1 :-r : '" J I r i i C i } 402 BULLETIN No. 441 grading by two individuals were offset to a considerable degree by having the grader at the shipping point and the grader at New York check each other's work for possible variations in the application of U. S. grades. 1 Rail and Truck Preserved Quality Equally Well Truck and rail consignments in the 1936 tests were identical in grade, weight, and pack. Thru special arrangement with the railroad, all rail shipments were given carlot transit service. The result was that both rail and truck provided third-morning delivery in New York. TABLE 2. U. S. GRADINGS ON TRUCK AND RAIL SHIPMENTS OF EGGS FROM SOUTH- EASTERN ILLINOIS TO NEW YORK IN 1936 TESTS Shipment by At shipping point: percent grading At New York: percent grading Percent with tremulous air cells at N. Y. Extra Standard Trade Extra Standard Trade Rail 75.6 72.5 24.4 27.5 69.4 67.1 29.8 32.1 .8 .8 14.8 9.9 Truck Practically no difference in quality was found between the eggs shipped by rail and those shipped by truck (Table 2). Differences were found in the 1935 shipments, as will be shown later, because the rail shipments were a longer time in transit. Market Quality of Test Eggs Not Improved by Icing Cars The weather was hot during most of the 1936 shipping period. The mean outdoor temperature for weeks ending on days when eggs were shipped were: June 12, 74.0; June 19, 77.3; June 26, 73.0; July 3, 81.7; July 10,88.6 F. 2 The rail shipments moved in refrigerator cars, three consignments being in iced cars and two in cars not iced. The temperatures and grades for different cars ^are shown in Table 3. Between the shipping 'The difference between graders was most evident with the brown-shelled eggs, which graded lower than the white-shelled eggs at the shipping point but higher at New York. This variation was undoubtedly due to a difference in the interpretation of quality factors, rather than to an actual difference in quality between the brown-shelled and the white-shelled eggs. "These temperature readings were averaged from official daily records at Flora, twenty miles west of Olney the shipping point in these tests. STUDIES OF THE MARKET QUALITY OF EGGS 403 TABLE 3. EFFECT OF ICING RAIL SHIPMENTS ON QUALITY OF EGGS, AS INDICATED BY U. S. GRADINGS AT SHIPPING POINT AND AT NEW YORK IN 1936 TESTS Week ending Car iced At shipping point At New York Out- side temper- ature" Car temper- ature' Percent eggs grading Out- side temper- ature Car temper- ature Percent eggs grading Extra Stand- ard Trade Extra Stand- ard Trade June 12 No Yesb Yes>> No Yes>> F. 82 84 79 76 110 "F. 56" 76 79 90 60.1 62.2 59.2 58.4 56.2 39.9 37.8 40.8 41.6 43.0 F. 70 72 60 80 F. 72 60 60 74 52.4 49.3 56.6 56.5 52.6 44.1 48.2 43.0 40.4 43.9 3.5 2.6 .3 3.1 3.6 June 19 June 26 .... July 3 July 10 The temperature readings here were not official but were taken by a car attendant. One ton of ice was used in each of the three iced shipments. The lower reading here was due to the fact that the ice was put in this car the night before the eggs were loaded. The ice was not put in the other two cars until after the eggs were loaded. point and New York the number of Standards and Trades in the iced shipments increased 6.6 eggs per hundred, whereas in the noniced shipments they increased only 4.8 eggs per hundred. Apparently a refrigerator car does not require icing for transport of Illinois eggs to New York, provided (as in these tests) the eggs are precooled 1 and the car is kept completely closed during the trip. Cases, fillers, and flats should also be precooled before eggs are packed for shipment. Storage Quality of Test Eggs Only Fair In order to find out how well the eggs would maintain their quality in storage after arriving at their destination, parts of two shipments were placed in storage in New York, one on June 27 and another on July 16. On November 11 they were removed for inspection, one lot having been in storage 138 days, the other 119 days. The U. S. gradings before and after storage were as follows: Number Placed in of storage cases June 27 44 July 16 33 Average Before storage: percent grading Extra Standard Trade 69.7 30.0 .3 81.5 18.3 .2 74.7 25.0 .3 After storage: percent grading Extra Standard Trade .8 92.5 6.7 5.9 92.5 1.5 3.0 92.5 4.4 Apparently the deterioration in quality was about one grade. Thirty- 'In this study precooling means keeping the eggs in a room with com- paratively low temperature and fairly high humidity until time for shipping. 404 BULLETIN No. 441 five percent of the eggs grading Standard after storage were, however, top-grade Standards. The average loss in weight during storage was half a pound per case. Large Eggs Graded Higher Than Small Eggs Of the eggs shipped, 69.4 percent were large, 27.4 percent were medium, and 3.2 percent were small. The large eggs made a good first impression on the market. It is interesting to note that the cases weighing the heaviest usually graded better than the lighter cases, both at the shipping point and at New York (Table 4). The percentage of tremulous air cells ran much higher in the small eggs than in the large ones. An explanation for this may be that the small eggs, which fit loosely in the standard size filler, suffered more jarring. In connection with this subject of weight in relation to quality, it is interesting to note that all the eggs declined in weight as the tem- perature increased during the shipping period (Fig. 2). This loss in weight, the exact cause of which is unknown, is a common problem to the practical poultryman. Hot Weather Affected Market Quality Only Slightly The fact that the eggs declined in weight as the weather grew hotter has just been mentioned. The general quality of the shipments did not, however, drop so much as might have been expected. This is shown by the following figures: Percent U. S. Extras Mean At shipping At Week ending temperature point destination June 12 74.0F. 60.1 52.4 June 19 77. 3 F. 62.2 49.3 June 26 73.0 F. 59.2 56.6 July 3 81. 7 F. 58.4 56.5 July 10 88. 6 F. 56.2 52.6 Undoubtedly the reason for the unexpected way in which the eggs stood up in shipment during the extreme heat was that the producers who continued shipping thruout the tests made sufficient improvements in their production practices to offset much of the decline in quality that usually occurs with rising summer temperatures. Producers took different attitudes toward the tests. After two shipments those who lost interest as a result of the low grading of their eggs dropped out of the tests. Those who made all five shipments were earnest about improving the quality of their eggs and made definite progress in that direction, even thru the hot weather. STUDIES OF THE MARKET QUALITY OF EGGS 405 TABLE 4. EGG WEIGHT AS RELATED TO EGG QUALITY, INDICATED BY U. S. GRADINGS IN 1936 TESTS Weight of case At shipping point At New York Total dozens Percent grading Percent with tremulous air cells Percent grading Percent with tremulous air cells Extra Stand- ard Trade Extra Stand- ard Trade Less than 55 pounds. . . 55 to 58 pounds 51.2 58.2 66.6 48.5 41.7 33.4 .3 .1 5.7 4.5 2.5 43.9 53.1 60.2 52.8 45 39.3 3.3 1.9 .5 26.9 19.9 17.0 1 530 10 380 3 840 More than 58 pounds. . POUNDS FIG. 2. INFLUENCE OF TEMPERATURE ON WEIGHT OF EGGS The above chart shows the average weight of all eggs marketed from 1,200 layers hens and pullets during the five weeks in which eggs were shipped from Illinois to New York in the 1936 tests. As temperatures increased, the weight of the eggs decreased. This improvement in market quality is indicated by the smaller drop in the percentage of Extras between shipping point and destina- tion in the last three shipments than in the first two. While the last three shipments averaged fewer Extras at the shipping point than did the first two, they nevertheless held their market quality much better in transit. The smaller variation in grade between shipping point and destination after the first two shipments was no doubt influenced also by the fact that the producers who dropped out of the tests before the last three shipments were made were those whose eggs had not been standing up so well under shipping conditions. 406 BULLETIN No. 441 Some October eggs were also shipped to New York and their mar- ket quality compared with that of eggs shipped earlier in the season. The October shipments were by rail only, and were five to six days in transit, moving by regular freight pick-up service out of Olney. Owing to low egg production, only five flock owners participated in the Octo- ber shipments. The data obtained cannot therefore be taken as final measurements of fall quality, but they are of some interest in showing that fall eggs graded lower at New York than summer eggs. The U. S. grades for the October eggs and the June and July eggs from the same flocks were as follows: At shipping point: At New York: percent grading percent grading Month Extra Standard Trade Extra Standard Trade October 65.8 34.2 30.0 63.8 6.2 June-July 66.3 33.7 54.8 43.5 1.7 The explanation for the lower quality of the October eggs after shipping may be that, with cooler weather and lower production, pro- ducers give fall eggs less care, and that these October shipments were in transit about twice as long as the summer shipments. There was also some indication that the quality of egg white is poorer during the latter part than during the fore part of the laying period. Production Practices Influenced Market Quality In order to learn whether production practices influenced egg qual- ity, personal visits were made to 75 of the farms from which eggs were received. A schedule was made up of the information desired, and the points listed were checked carefully at each of the farms visited. Ac- cording to the information obtained, production practices did not vary widely. Factors which seemed especially to influence the quality of the eggs were cooling, range practices, and size and character of flock. Moisture Needed in Storage Place. The prevalence of high tem- peratures during the 1936 shipping period caused definite deterioration in the quality of the eggs examined. Even basement rooms and cellars showed temperatures around 70 F. most of the time. But apparently the effect of the heat Was aggravated by the absence of sufficient moisture. One producer, whose eggs had been grading poorly, got im- mediate improvement by discontinuing the cooling of the eggs on the basement floor and placing them in an incubator with the moisture trays filled with water. Homemade egg coolers providing moisture also helped to conserve egg quality. The increase in the quality of eggs shipped by the two STUDIES OF THE MARKET QUALITY OF EGGS 407 PRODUCTION PRACTICES ON FARMS FROM WHICH EGGS WERE SHIPPED IN 1936 TESTS (Average size of farm, 176 acres) Average number of birds per flock 405 Pullets 270 Hens 135 Breed: percent of total flocks having White Leghorns 70 Barred Plymouth Rocks 11 Rhode Island Reds 2 White Plymouth Rocks 2 Wyandottes 1 Hybrids 14 Type of house: percent of producers using Shed-roof 54 Monitor 35 Straw-loft 10 Average floor space per bird (square feet) 2.9 Management practices: percent of producers who Used artificial light during fall and winter 24 Allowed free or barnyard range 88 Used limited range or confined the flock 12 Fed home-raised feeds* 64 Fed some form of milk 34 Produced infertile eggs 81 Cooled the eggs 67 Kept broody hens off the nests 90 Other factors in management Average number of hens per nest 6.3 Average times eggs gathered per day 2 Methods of marketing: 11 percent of producers selling to Storekeepers 52 Produce houses 28 Hucksters 11 Consumers 9 Seasonal production: average eggs per hundred hens, all flocks, on January 1 25 May 1 58 July 1 36 Corn made up 42 percent of the total feed in all flocks. b Average distance to nearest selling point was 5.1 miles. producers referred to in Table 5 was largely the direct result of using such a cooler. Limited or Confined Range Preferable. It is quite clear from the figures in Table 6 that the flocks confined, or limited in range, pro- duced eggs of higher market quality than flocks allowed free run of 408 BULLETIN No. 441 TABLE 5. QUALITY OF EGGS BEFORE AND AFTER USING COOLERS, AS INDICATED BY U. S. GRADINGS AT NEW YORK ON SHIPMENTS BY Two FARMERS IN 1936 TESTS Before using cooler: percent grading After using cooler: percent grading Extra Standard Extra Standard Shipper A June 19 75 60 25 40 35 60 70 90 80 '75 io 20 'is June 26 July 3 uly 10 Shipper B June 19 65 40 30 June 26 ... ... July 3 July 10 the barnyard. This improvement in quality was undoubtedly due to the fact that the flocks producing the better eggs were restricted largely to the rations provided. Large Flocks Produced Better Eggs. As would be expected, the quality of the eggs varied widely with the size of the flock. Owners of small flocks stated many times during these tests that they did not find it profitable to expend the extra labor necessary to produce eggs of good quality. The percentages of Extras from flocks of different sizes were as follows: Percent U. S. Extras Size of flock At shipping At point destination 100-200 birds 46.8 38.2 201-300 birds 55.7 51.4 301-500 birds 54.0 46.7 501 and over 80.8 70.6 Commercial Flocks Gave High-Quality Eggs. Three of the com- mercial producers participating in these tests have followed the prac- TABLE 6. QUALITY OF EGGS FROM DIFFERENT TYPES OF RANGE, AS INDICATED BY U. S. GRADINGS IN 1936 TESTS Type of range At shipping point: percent grading At New York: percent grading Extra Standard Trade Extra Standard Trade Barnyard 52.8 68.9 47.0 31.1 .2 44.9 65.2 52.2 33.4 3.0 1.4 Limited range or confined STUDIES OF THE MARKET QUALITY OF EGGS 409 TABLE 7. QUALITY OF EGGS FROM COMMERCIAL FLOCKS, AS INDICATED BY U. S. GRADINGS ON SHIPMENTS FROM THREE COMMERCIAL PRODUCERS IN 1936/TESTs Shipper County At shipping point: percent grading At New York: percent grading Number of dozens shipped Extra Standard Extra Standard A Clay Clinton Ed wards 98.2 97.8 96.3 1.8 2.2 3.7 92.2 96.8 91.1 3.8 3.2 8.9 600 570 450 B c tices recommended by the Illinois Station and Extension Service for several years. The eggs which they shipped were of high quality (Table 7), averaging 93.4 percent Extras and 5.3 percent Standards at New York. A comparison of these grades with the average grades at New York of all eggs shipped in the 1936 tests viz., 50.5 percent Extras, 47.1 percent Standards, and 2.4 percent Trades (Table 8) shows how quality can be raised by improving production practices. Quality of Eggs Varied Widely Among Counties Wide variations were found in the quality of the eggs supplied from different counties for the 1936 tests (Table 8). The eggs of the Edwards county producers, who have made active use of the information supplied by the Illinois Station and Extension Service, graded definitely higher than those from other counties having a significant number of cooperators. The grades of the eggs received TABLE 8. QUALITY OF EGGS FROM DIFFERENT COUNTIES, AS INDICATED BY U. S. GRADINGS IN 1936 TESTS County Number of shippers At shipping point At New York Percent grading Percent with tremulous air cells Percent grading Percent with tremulou air cells Extra Stand- ard Trade Extra Stand- ard Trade Clay 3 5 14 15 2 15 1 9 11 74.5 66.2 68.1 50.5 55.0 53.5 66.2 56.9 51.8 59.5 25.5 33.8 31.9 49.2 45.0 46.3 33.8 43.1 47.9 40.4 .4 .2 .3 .1 1.3 4.7 2.0 5.8 5.0 3.3 2.5 8.0 5.6 4.2 70.0 61.5 62.0 38.6 36.4 48.8 50.0 45.1 37.3 50.5 29.0 36.7 36.6 57.5 61.4 49.2 47.5 52.3 58.3 47.1 1.0 1.8 1.4 3.8 2.1 2.0 2.5 2.6 4.4 2.4 13.3 13.6 14.0 26.4 25.7 19.7 28.8 24.1 28.0 21.5 Clinton Edwards Effingham Lawrence Richland Wabash Wayne White Average 410 BULLETIN No. 441 from Clay and Clinton counties were largely influenced by the high quality of the eggs shipped by two commercial poultrymen who have cooperated closely with the Extension Service. STUDIES IN 1935: SHIPMENTS FROM ONE COUNTY The 1935 study was confined to testing the effect of the mode of transportation truck and rail on the quality of June and July ship- ments of eggs from Edwards county to the New York market. The general practice of producers in Edwards county was to ship eggs to New York by l.c.l. freight, the eggs being picked up by local freight on a branch line. At the first division point such shipments were consolidated into a refrigerator-car shipment and moved to New York under full refrigeration. These eggs moved over two railroad systems, were handled nine times en route, and required an average of 6.6 days to reach market, whereas the 1936 rail shipments required only 3 days. Because of difficulty in arranging for truck transportation at the start of the tests, only five shipments moved by truck, whereas eight moved by rail. In all, 63 cases of eggs, or 1,890 dozen were shipped. Only eggs grading U. S. Extra at the shipping point were included in the tests. The eggs were carefully candled, graded, and packed. All shipments were consigned to the G. L. F. Egg Marketing Service at New York, and were again carefully graded on arrival there. Because the truck shipments moved faster than the rail shipments, they graded higher at New York. This was particularly true when the initial egg quality was low. The differences in quality for different producers' eggs upon arrival at the market (all grading U. S. Extra at the shipping point) were as follows: Percent U. S. Extras at New York from Shipper 1 Shipper 2 Shipper 3 Truck shipments 100 86.5 82.5 Rail shipments 71 .5 29 47 The rail shipments were held at lower temperatures than were necessary, moisture condensing on the eggs while they were being moved from the car to the receiver's warehouse. So heavy was this condensation that it was not advisable to handle these eggs on the day of arrival. It will be recalled that in the 1936 tests, in which the rail shipments moved rapidly to market, icing the refrigerator cars proved unnecessary when precooling was carefully done and the bunkers were kept shut until the car reached its destination. STUDIES OF THE MARKET QUALITY OF EGGS 411 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS Experimental shipments of eggs were made from southeastern Illinois to New York in order to determine where improvements could be made in producing eggs of high market quality. Five hundred and eighty-six cases of eggs were shipped from nine counties in 1936, after trial shipments from one county in 1935. From these tests the follow- ing observations and conclusions were made: 1. When the time in transit was the same, there was practically no difference in the quality of the eggs shipped by rail and by truck. The truck service in 1935 was quicker than the available freight service, and consequently the truck shipments arrived in New York in better condition than the rail shipments. 2. When the rail shipments moved to New York in three days in refrigerator cars, as they did in the 1936 tests, it was not necessary to ice the cars. The insulation provided by the refrigerator car, the egg case, fillers, and flats was apparently sufficient to protect the precooled eggs during the three-day shipment. 3. The trucking of eggs over country roads for several hours previous to shipment appeared to have no serious effect on egg quality except when the eggs were not protected from heat and from rough handling. 4. Storage quality of the eggs shipped in 1936 was only fair. To come thru storage successfully eggs must go into storage in good con- dition, and it is doubtful whether the eggs used in the experiment were of high enough quality to do this. 5. Seasonal volume of egg production in this territory varies widely. 6. Plot summer weather in southern Illinois is not a serious handicap to the production of quality eggs, provided reasonable care is given the eggs. 7. A limited flock range and the quick cooling of eggs immedi- ately after they are laid are important factors in the production of quality eggs. The best quality eggs came from confined or semi-con- fined flocks and from farms where cooling was done promptly after the eggs were gathered. 8. Moisture in the place where eggs were stored apparently helped to retain their quality. 9. Fifty-two percent of the farmers who cooperated in these tests sold their eggs to the local store. Only 28 percent sold to the produce house. Interest in selling eggs by grade is apparently limited chiefly to the larger flock owners. 1-3812,05013913 TSlVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-UHBANA Q 630 7IL6B c002 BULLETIN URBAN* 433.444 1937-38 mill