At the farm | At Nutri-Oeuf

At the farm

The egg business has changed a lot since 1900. Previously, our grandparents raised a couple of hundred hens in outside enclosures. Hens were free to move and lay where they wished. Farmers had to be very careful when gathering eggs that were scattered about the farmyard. Moreover, because of Quebec's extreme climate, hens only produced eggs during the summer as winters were too harsh. At that era, the average hen laid about 84 eggs per year.

Today, the industry has been completely changed. Most of the producers in Quebec use large, ultramodern buildings which house between 10,000 to 100,000 hens (60 000 hens per builging at the most) and where everything is done automatically. We no longer have to look for the eggs under piles of straw; eggs are now moved by conveyor making gathering eggs easy and efficient. Hens now live in clean and well-ventilated buildings where the temperature, humidity, and lighting are controlled throughout the year. Water and fresh feed is always available. Even the removal of manure has become automated. Cages are designed so that the droppings fall directly on a conveyor, bringing it outside; this allows the eggs and hens to remain clean and disease-free. Some producers even install music in order to calm the hens. Now, hens lay about 290 eggs per year. Hens begin laying at around 19 weeks of age and continue for over 12 months. Quebec producers normally raise the White Leghorn breed which lays eggs with white shells but some raise Rhode Island Reds which lay brown eggs. There is also a large number of other varieties of hens in the province of Quebec.

Normally, wild birds lay their eggs in spring when the days grows longer. In our modern hen houses, we keep the lights on for 14 to 16 hours a day in order to stimulate the hens to lay throughout the year. Moreover, the hens are given a well-balanced diet of cereals, protein, vitamins, minerals, and abundant quantities of fresh water.

In Quebec, two types of building are used. Most producers use cages. A small minority prefer to allow the chickens to move about freely. In both cases, the temperature, ventilation, humidity, and lighting all controlled so that the hens can be kept as comfortable as possible throughout the year.

At Nutri-Oeuf

Once the eggs have been gathered, placed on plastic trays, and warehoused in a cold room at the farm, larger refrigerated trucks bring them to Nutri-oeuf's factory in St.Hyacinthe for grading. Upon arrival, the eggs are stored in a cold room where the temperature and humidity are controlled in order to keep the eggs fresh until the moment they are graded. Normally all the eggs are graded on the day they arrive.

The grading process has several stages. First, the egg trays are placed by hand on the production line. Electric arms fitted with suction cups then raise and place the eggs on a conveyor belt. The eggs then enter an ultramodern machine where they are carefully washed and dried. They then undergo an examination process called candling. The eggs pass under a light which makes the insides visible. Various characteristics are examined here: the state of the shell, the size of the air cell, and the position of the yolk (whether it is well-centered or not). Those eggs which do not meet our high standards are labeled and removed from the production line by an electronic detector.

Category A eggs have a thick egg white, a well-centered yolk, a small air cell, and a clean and solid shell.

Each egg that has passed this test is then weighed and sent to the packing area by size. Every Nutri-oeuf egg is packed in recyclable and recycled fiber, foam, or plastic packaging. Each carton is dated to indicate the shelf life (normally 35 days after packing). If eggs are kept well refrigerated at home, the consumer can use them after this date but they will have lost their freshness. To insure the quality off the eggs, each egg is stamped whit a number that alowes us to know quikly where it comes from. This procedur is called tracability program.

Once packaged, the fresh eggs are then kept refrigerated until a refrigerated truck delivers them to supermarkets and restaurants. However, in order to make sure that the eggs are kept as fresh as possible, a Nutri-oeuf quality-control person carries out spot checks in order to make sure that they meet Category A standards. Inspectors from the Minister of Agriculture also do spot checks to make sure that these standards are respected. They also check eggs that have not been graded in order to determine the quality of production from a particular flock.

The eggs that you buy at the supermarket normally arrive about four days after they have been laid. Then they stay on the shelf until the consumer can enjoy the culinary delights of dishes made with Nutri-oeuf eggs.

Ref.: Comment les oeufs sont produits au Canada, Office canadien de commercialisation des oeufs.

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