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The Nelson Photo News

 

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No Egg Shortage Here

While some North Island centres have been experiencing an egg shortage in recent weeks, Nel-sonians have been able to have their requirements met without the rationing that has followed the shortage up north. Nelson is fortunate in having a thriving poultry industry which supplies the egg floor at Farm Products Co-operative in Halifax Street with close on 1 million dozen eggs a year. To give you some idea of what happens to the eggs you buy from the time the hen does her bit, we took our Camera on to the egg floor.

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The eggs, carefully packed in crates, are unloaded by Ron McAlpine at the floor.

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Lorraine Allen supervises the loading - a rotary pick-up-and-distributor consisting of rubber suction cups transfers the eggs to a conveyor belt.

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The eggs leave the belt and drop into a rotary, electronically-controlled grader which separates the eggs into their proper grades and these are hand-packed by Janette Barnett, Kath Smith, and Lorraine Wells.

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In a cosy corner Monica Morgan assembles the familiar boxes (average assembly time, 7 sec).

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Before reaching the grading table, the eggs on the conveyor belt pass over a light and Wanaka Rose is quick to spot any imperfections.

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Surplus or cracked eggs are pulped on a locally-designed and made machine (the only one of its kind in the world), which can process 6000 eggs an hour - it's operated here by Ruth Johnson.

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The eggs, on a conveyor, are punctured by needles at right and their contents sucked up by hollow needles.

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The pulped egg, having passed through a cooler, is weighed and packed by Doug Stewart.