Winter 2002 Newsletters
From the President
The Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom (MAC) program has had another busy year. We distributed hundreds of our comprehensive agriculture education packets, worked on a new Farm Field Trip Manual; developed a new exhibit for the Flower Show and Big E; awarded eight mini-grants to educators; conducted twelve workshops on the farm for teachers, worked on two conferences and the mailing list for our popular newsletter has now passed ten thousand. The Massachusetts Department of Food and Agriculture supports MAC through the efforts of two staff members who serve on the Board of Directors. In addition, MDFA awarded $25,000 to MAC through two competitive grants during the year. An Agro-Environmental Technology Grant funded the development of the Farm Field Trip Manual and a manual for farmers who visit the Classroom. A Marketing Grant funded printing of the spring newsletter; distribution of seventy comprehensive educational packets; our Flower Show exhibit, a flyer on herbs and one on chefs.The Massachusetts Society for the Promotion of Agriculture followed their generous donation last year with a second year contribution of $7,500 to help MAC complete the transition to a paid administrator who helps with long-range planning for future development. A $3,500 grant from the Mass. Dept. of Education funded the distribution of additional educational materials.
MAC is a private, non-profit organization and is entirely dependent on donations and grants for support. We are pleased to report that this year five additional organizations made donations of $1,000 or more. These include: The Essex County Farm Bureau; Middle-sex County Farm Bureau, James Underwood Crocket Ag Tech Fund; and Blue Seal Foods. The Bristol County Farm Bureau contributed $1000 with a challenge to others to match their support of the MAC Mini-grant program. We thank these and the many other generous donors for their support. All donations are listed fully in our Annual Report. If you like what we do, consider making a donation in 2002. Thank you!
John Lee, President
Become a MAC Program Partner
This year MAC "kicked-off" an important effort seeking trade associations, businesses and other interested parties to help under-write our educational mini-grant program. Each year we provide $10,000 to 15,000 towards exciting, innovative projects proposed by educators. We fund educational program materials; transportation costs for classrooms visiting farms; special projects such as aquaculture and hydroponics; educational supplies and much, much more.
Bristol County Farm Bureau was the first to accept this challenge providing $1,000 to be earmarked for the mini-grant program. Please help us spread the word on this potential collaboration and opportunity to show support by providing a match to this first important contribution.
Chickens and Eggs
Chickens are found in every part of the world and used in every cuisine. They are raised for meat, eggs and by-products such as feathers.
History
Chickens were domesticated by humans long before written history, dating back as far as 3200 B.C. The chickens we know today originated in southeast Asia and were first tamed around 2300 B.C. Ancient Egyptian and Chinese records show that fowl were kept for their eggs as early as 1400 BC. The Egyptians believed that their god Ptah created the egg out of the sun and moon. Phoenicians thought that two halves of a very large egg split open producing heaven and earth. Spanish explorers brought the first chickens to North and South America in the 1500's. English colonists also brought chickens with them; settlers at Jamestown raised small flocks as early as 1607. Later, almost every farmer had a small flock to feed the family.In the United States, the chicken producing industry began in the 1920's. A woman in Delaware raised a flock of five hundred birds to sell to a local market; within five years she was raising 25,000 birds. Soon other chicken farms followed along with hatcheries, feed mills and processing plants.The chicken and egg business in America today is a major, many faceted industry that requires a knowledgeable and skilled team of people. Some farmers raise chickens for meat, others produce eggs for market or the hatchery. Each of these is a separate area of production.
In Massachusetts, there is one egg hatchery and more than twenty commercial egg operations, including one organic egg farm. Although individual farmers raise a few chickens for their meat, there are no longer any meat chicken producing farms in the state. For a list of Massachusetts Egg Producers visit the Mass. Dept. of Food & Agriculture at www.massgrown.org
Egg Production
Commercial egg farms buy pullets (young chicks) from growers who specialize in this type of bird. Specially bred males and females comprise breeder flocks which provide eggs for the hatchery. A breeder flock is placed in a breeder house at fifteen weeks of age and kept for about sixty-four weeks. The eggs will hatch in 21 days if they are kept constantly warm and turned daily.The young hens are placed in laying houses designed for their welfare as well as production efficiency. Temperature, humidity and light are all controlled and the air is kept circulating. Some houses even have piped-in music. The hens are protected from the elements, disease and predators. Birds may be given the run of the floor area, but are more often housed in metal or plastic cage-like nests, designed with slanted or roll-away floors to facilitate egg collection. The housing system also makes it possible to feed the hens a scientifically balanced diet with the proper amounts of protein, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals needed to produce top quality eggs. This results is better fed and healthier birds and eggs of more uniform quality. Chickens eat pelletized feed and other small grains. Laying hens also eat cracked oyster shells, which contain calcium necessary for hard egg shells. Antibiotics may occasionally be added to the feed to prevent disease. Like all other animals, the hens must have water at all times. By law, hormones may not be fed to chickens.
The hens are about twenty one weeks old when they start to lay eggs. The hen does not need to be mated to lay eggs, but only fertilized eggs will hatch. A good hen lays one egg per day and will lay 206 to 280 eggs a year. There are approximately 280 million laying hens in the United States. Egg production accounted for 1.2% of the Mass. agriculture revenues in 2000.
Grading and Packing
Shortly after the eggs are laid, they are gathered and washed to remove dirt or stains. Federal regulations specify the procedures and cleaning compounds that may be used. Today most eggs are cleaned in mechanical egg washers with sprayers, brushes, detergent-sanitizers, rinses and driers. In washing, the bloom is removed, so a light tasteless, natural mineral oil may be applied to replace it.Next the eggs are sorted by size, graded for quality and packed into cartons. The condition of the inner egg is checked through a process called "candling." The egg is placed in front of a strong light which illuminates the yolk and inner cell area. Long ago this was done by holding the egg up before a candle.
Today most eggs pass on rollers over high-intensity lights which make the interior of the eggs visible. The eggs are rotated so all parts can be seen. The candler checks the size of the air cell and the distinctiveness of the yolk outline.
Imperfections such as blood spots show up in candling. Large processing plants may also use electronic blood detectors. Grading may occur at the farm or at a separate grading facility. Following grading, the eggs are packed for market. The most familiar egg package is the pulp or foam carton holding 12 eggs. The sponginess of the carton insulates the eggs from jolts. It also prevents loss of moisture and carbon dioxide and keeps the eggs from picking up undesirable odors and flavors.
Eggs are placed in their cartons large end up to keep the air cell in place and the yolk centered. The carton shows the brand, grade, egg size and weight. Egg cartons from USDA inspected plants must display a Julian date - the date the eggs were packed. Although not required, they may also carry an expiration date beyond which the eggs should not be sold. In USDA inspected plants, this date cannot exceed 30 days after the pack date.
Eggs form an important part of man’s diet worldwide They are an excellent source of protein, iron, phosphorus and vitamins A, B, and D. In addition to being a nutritious food, egg or parts of the egg are used in vaccines, fertilizer, animal feed, paints, ink, soap and shampoo. Many eggs are used in producing baked goods.
What’s In An Egg
Shell: The shell is the outer covering of the egg, protecting it from injury and contamination. It is composed of 94% calcium carbonate with small amounts of magnesium carbonate, calcium phosphate and other organic matter including protein. The shell is nine to twelve percent of the total weight of the egg. Thousands of tiny pores are distributed over the surface. The shell is covered with a protective coating called the cuticle or bloom. This blocks the pores, preserving freshness and preventing contamination.
The shell color comes from the pigment in the outer layer of the shell and is determined by the breed of hen. In New England we often eat brown eggs from the Rhode Island Red, New Hampshire and Plymouth Rock breeds. Shell Membrane: Just inside the shell are two shell membranes, inner and outer. They provide a barrier against bacteria.
Air Cell is the empty space between the white and shell at the large end of the egg. Eggs are warm when first laid and the shell is filled. As it cools, the contents contract and the inner shell membrane separates from the outer shell membrane to form the air cell. As the egg ages, moisture and carbon dioxide leave through the pores of the shell, air enters to replace them and the air cell becomes larger. Albumen: The albumen (egg white) consists of 4 alternating layers of thick and thin consistencies. From the yolk outward, they are the inner thick or chalaziferous white, the inner thin white, the outer thick white and the outer thin white. Albumen accounts for about sixty seven percent of an egg's liquid weight. It contains more than half the egg's total protein, niacin, riboflavin, chlorine, magnesium, potassium, sodium and sulfur. Chalaza are two twisted ropey strands of egg white that anchor the yolk in place in the center of the thick white.The Vitelline Membrane is the covering of the yolk. It is colorless and strong, protecting the yolk from breaking.The Yolk is located in the center of the albumen and is the site of embryo formation in fertilized eggs. The yolk makes up 33% of the egg’s liquid weight. Yolk color depends on the amount of yellow-orange plants in the diet of the hen. Hens are fed yellow corn meal, alfalfa meal and even marigold petals to make the yolk yellow. The yolk contains Vitamins A, D, E, and phosphorus, manganese, iron, iodine, copper, calcium and zinc. It also contains all of the fat in the egg and a little less than half of the protein.
The Germinal Disc is a channel leading to the center of the yolk. When sperm enters the germinal disc and fertilizes the egg, a chick embryo starts to form.
Fun Egg Experiments
Experiment No. 1What you'll need: White vinegar, A jar or glass Place the egg in the glass or jar. Cover the egg with vinegar and let sit for a day. On the second day, change the vinegar. Set aside for a week. After a week the egg should be clear but still egg-shaped. The vinegar dissolves the shell, leaving the membrane intact. Experiment No. 2 It's Magic: What you'll need: Uncooked egg, Hard cooked egg Ask students to guess which egg is cooked and which egg is raw. Mix them up and try to guess. How can you tell the difference? The hard cooked egg will spin when you give it a turn; raw ones stop after a turn and a half. Experiment No. 3 Egg in a Bottle What you'll need: Shelled hard cooked egg, Bottle with a neck just small enough that the egg won't fall in, Paper, Matches
Wad up the paper and drop it in the bottle. Light the paper with a match and allow the fire to burn out. Immediately put the egg in the bottle and it should be sucked in. The egg is actually being pushed into the bottle because the heated air becomes less dense and rises out of the bottle, causing a decrease in air pressure inside the bottle. The higher pressure outside the bottle pushes the egg inside.
Experiments from the California Egg Commission at www.eggcom.com
Egg Nutrition
One large egg provides fifteen percent of the U.S.D.A. Recommended Daily Allowance for protein and equals one ounce of lean meat, fish or poultry. Eggs contain varying amounts of 13 other vitamins.
Nutrition Information Per Serving
Serving Size = 1 large egg (50 gram edible portion)
- Calories 80
- Protein 6g
- Carbohydrates less than 1 g
- Fat (Percent of Calories = 56%) 5 g
- Polyunsaturated 1 g
- Saturated 2 g
- Monounsaturated 2 g
- Cholesterol 215 mg
- Sodium 65 mg
Percentage of US RDA
- Protein 15%
- Vitamin E 2%
- Vitamin A 6%
- Vitamin B6 4%
- Thiamin 2%
- Folic Acid 6%
- Riboflavin 15%
- Vitamin B12 8%
- Calcium 2%
- Phosphorus 8%
- Iron 4%
- Iodine 15%
- Vitamin D 6%
- Zinc 4%
- Panotothenic Acid 6%
- Biotin 4%
Egg Expressions
Ask your students if they are familiar with any of these common expressions or phrases. Can they guess what they might mean? Why do they think these expressions came to be used? Can they name any others that use the word egg or chicken?
- Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
- Egg on ones face
- Egg head
- Nest egg
- Walking on egg shells
- Bad egg
- Good egg
- Rotten egg
- Goose egg or zero
- As light as a feather
- No spring chicken
- Mad as a wet hen
- Don’t count your chickens before they hatch
Blown Out Eggshells
Rinse the shell in cold water and let it dry before decorating. With nothing inside to spoil, blown eggshells can be decorated to keep indefinitely. Be careful when decorating empty shells, they’re quite fragile. The contents can be used in any recipe where yolk and whites are mixed together and thoroughly cooked.
Decorating Eggs
Eggs can be painted or colored with crayons or felt-tipped pens, turned into funny faces, topped with fantastic hats, trimmed with feathers or sequins or simply dyed in an endless variety of hues. Eggs may be either hard-cooked eggs or blown-out eggshells.
Commercial egg dyes and food coloring can be used to color eggs. You can also create your own colors from plants. Wash eggs in a mild detergent solution to remove the oil coating so that the color adheres more evenly. Simmer eggs for 20 minutes covered in water with 1 tablespoon of white vinegar for each cup of water and the materials below: (Experiment with the amount of each material to produce the desired color.) Color Material
- Pink: beets, cranberries, radish and frozen raspberries
- Pale yellow: onion skins
- Yellow: lemon peels, carrot, orange, ground turmeric or cumin
- Pale green: spinach
- Green gold: yellow delicious apple
- Blue: blueberries, red cabbage
- Brown: dill seed, chill powder
- Gray: grape juice, beet juice.
Breeds of Chickens
Chickens of each standard breed have about the same body size and shape. Some chickens of different varieties have been crossed to produce new hybrids with favorable characteristics. The two main breeds of chicken that are grown in Massachusetts are the Rhode Island Red and the White Leghorn, both good egg producers. The Cornish Cross, Plymouth Rock, New Hampshire, Wyandotte and Rhode Island White are also commonly raised in the U.S.The Plymouth Rock breed was first exhibited at America's first poultry show in 1829 in Boston. It is believed that these original fowls lost their identity and that the progenitors of our present Barred Plymouth Rocks were first exhibited in 1869 at Worcester, Massachusetts. These were composites of several blood lines. The Plymouth Rock is a dual purpose fowl for the production of eggs and meat. The color of the skin is yellow, the egg shell is brown, ranging from a very light to a dark brown, depending on the strain and the stage of production The Rhode Island Red is a cross between the Red Malay Game, Leghorn and Asiatic native stock. The name Rhode Island Red was given the breed in honor of the state where it originated. The earlier Rhode Island Reds sported both single and rose combs, some even having pea combs, due to their mixed ancestry and because they were being bred primarily for market purposes. The distinct shape characteristic is the horizontal, oblong body. Rhode Island Reds and are general purpose fowls, bred for the production of meat and eggs. The skin color is yellow and the eggs are brown.
The White Leghorn originally came from Italy, but have been further bred and developed in England, Denmark and the United States. They are known for their hardiness and prolific egg-laying qualities, especially noted for the large numbers of eggs they produce, as many as 300 eggs per year. The skin color is yellow and the egg shells are white.
Hatching Eggs in the Classroom
Fertile Eggs
In order to hatch eggs in the classroom you will need to obtain fertile eggs. Eggs from the grocery store are not fertile. You must also decide what you plan to do with the chicks once they have hatched. The best plan is to locate someone who is experienced in keeping chickens and is willing to take the chicks. Check with a local poultry farm or the 4-H office.
If it is necessary to hold the eggs before you set them, turn them daily and keep them in a room where the temperature is around 50o F and the relative humidity is seventy to eighty percent. The vegetable section of the refrigerator could be used. Temperatures below 40o F and over 80o F reduce hatchability. Fertile eggs should be set within 7 days after they are laid.
Incubating the Eggs
Incubation means maintaining conditions favorable for developing and hatching fertile eggs. Four factors are of major importance in incubating eggs artificially: temperature, humidity, ventilation and turning. Of these factors, temperature is the most critical. The temperature of the broody hen is slightly lower than 107 o F, and temperature in the incubator can vary from 99o to 103o F. Eggs naturally lose eleven percent of their original weight during incubation, but more than this is detrimental. Place a pan of warm water in the incubator to avoid excessive moisture loss. You can also control the humidity in the incubator by opening and closing the vents. The ideal moisture level is about 50 to 55 percent relative humidity for the first 18 days and about 65 percent for the last 3 days. Proper ventilation is very important during the incubation process. While the embryo is developing, oxygen enters the egg through the shell, and carbon dioxide escapes in the same manner. As the chicks begin to hatch, it is essential that they receive an increasing supply of oxygen. This means that the air openings need to be opened gradually to increase the flow of air. Thermostatically controlled electric incubators are recommended for classroom use.
Two models for constructing your own incubator are provided in the 4-H Manual From Egg to Chick and can also be found on the Univ. of Illinois Web Site at http://chickscope.beckman.uiuc.edu
Locate your incubator in a room in which temperature is between 70o and 75o F, and which is free from drafts and excessive variations in temperature. Avoid exposure to the direct rays of the sun, which may raise temperatures. Make sure that the incubator is clean and in working order. Eggs must be turned while in the incubator, so before you put in the eggs mark them with a pencil so you can tell when they have been properly turned. Put an "X" on one side of the egg and an "0" on the opposite side, so you can tell when the eggs have been turned. Lay the eggs on their sides in the incubator, and turn them at least three times a day. This prevents the embryo from sticking to the shell membranes. When you turn the eggs, move them to a different part of the tray to offset variations in temperature in the different parts of the incubator. Continue to turn the eggs from the first through the 17th days. After the 17th day, eggs should not be turned, and the incubator should not be opened unless it is necessary to add water, replace a light bulb, or make some other necessary adjustment. Chicks will start to pip (peck out of the shell) around the 19th day. All chicks that are going to hatch should be out of their shells by day 21.
When most of the eggs are hatched, lower the temperature to approximately 95o F. This permits the newly-hatched chicks to dry off. At this time, all the air vents in the plywood incubator should be opened, and the glass top on the cardboard incubator should be opened wider. As soon as the chicks have dried and fluffed up completely, remove them from the incubator and place them in holding quarters where the temperature is approximately 95o F. Give them fresh water and feed. If you plan to keep the chicks for a few days, give them a chick-starting mash, obtainable at any feed or farm supply store. Fresh water is also very important.
Chicken and Egg Resources
Information for this newsletter was taken from the sources listed above .
Mission: Massachusetts Agriculture ion the Classroom is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) educational organization with the mission to foster an awareness and learning in all areas related to the food and agriculture industries and the economic and social importance of agriculture to the state national and the world.
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