Just found a pile of eggs! Are they ok?

[jessandjeremy]

We've gotten eggs every other day or so and just assumed our new hens hadn't gotten the hang of it yet or something... We only got our first egg less than 2 weeks ago. Today we stumbled across a pile in the brush with 14 eggs in a hole! Sneaky gals! any way to determine if they're all good to eat or not? And I just read not to let them free range until after maybe 10am but we let them out before work. Any way to get them to lay in their nesting boxes? We've only gotten a few in the boxes so far...

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Creatures of habit so keep them locked in a building till they get into the habit of laying in there. Put fake eggs or golf balls in the nest.
Open the eggs in a bowl individually and give the sniff test. If they don't stink, they're good.

 

[Mutt Farm]

Hi! Congrats on finding your stash! 14? WOW! You can do a float test, https://www.backyardchickens.com/newsearch?search=float+test+eggs but that isn't a guarantee of egg safety. You can do the sniff test as well. Again, no guarantee.
Folks with new layers usually keep the pullets locked up until afternoon if they are having trouble with hens not using the boxes. Fake eggs or golf balls may help. Keep us posted!

 

[aart]

Creatures of habit so keep them locked in a building till they get into the habit of laying in there. Put fake eggs or golf balls in the nest.
Open the eggs in a bowl individually and give the sniff test. If they don't stink, they're good.

Ditto Dat^^^

 

[jessandjeremy]

Little stinkers. I didn't open them up until 10 today cuz I happened to be home. No eggs in the coop and now there are 2 more in the hole and another in the run. I'll be ordering some fake eggs to encourage them to use the nesting boxes!

 

[Mutt Farm]

Little stinkers. I didn't open them up until 10 today cuz I happened to be home. No eggs in the coop and now there are 2 more in the hole and another in the run. I'll be ordering some fake eggs to encourage them to use the nesting boxes!

You might want to keep them locked up like @ChickenCanoe suggested, or at least until the afternoon. You could mark a couple of the eggs you found and use those in the boxes for now.

 

[Cinmerri]

We lived in Africa for four years, bought unwashed eggs locally and kept them at room temperature for up to a month. If your hens haven't been laying for more than two weeks, most likely the eggs are fine. Crack them lightly at first to see the color beneath without breaking through the membrane... that at least helps! We found a stray egg recently, I cracked it and saw that it was black so just shoved it down the disposal!

 

[Mutt Farm]

We lived in Africa for four years, bought unwashed eggs locally and kept them at room temperature for up to a month. If your hens haven't been laying for more than two weeks, most likely the eggs are fine. Crack them lightly at first to see the color beneath without breaking through the membrane... that at least helps! We found a stray egg recently, I cracked it and saw that it was black so just shoved it down the disposal!

True that, I keep mine on the counter. Just read on a site where they did a 6 month study of different methods of egg keeping. Fertilized and non, Farm eggs and store bought. It was a good read. Most, on the counter eggs were still edible after 3 months. But your black ones,

 

[teria]

My girls have been laying in their nest buckets for months, but, I had noticed a dramatic drop lately. I chalked it up to the reduction in light due to it being December. Then today, I was adding bedding to the little playhouse our turkey hen sleeps in at night, and there in the corner was a pile of seven eggs. We have six hens that are currently laying, and I guess they just liked that spot better. The temps have been in the 30's so I'm not worried about them being bad, and I know they aren't very old, maybe a few days at most. I am now keeping the turkey coop closed tight during the day to discourage a repeat and hoping they go back to using the buckets as before.

We'll be moving them all (the six laying hens, the six hens that should start laying next month or so, and the hen turkey) all into the brand new coop we just finished building. The roosts will be in and bedding down by Saturday. Hopefully, putting a fake egg in the buckets they are used to will ease the transition. Really don't want to go on an egg hunt every few days. The little stinkers.