Safety of buried eggs?

[ShrekDawg]

I wouldn't dare eat one.

Looks as bad as balut. I'm not sure which one would taste worse.

I think they’d both taste pretty bad lol at least balut would kinda just be like a chicken nugget? Still meat at least. But this one looks gross and also besides that, look at the ingredients. Clay, ash, lime, salt, rice hills!? I bet it’s like eating mud. And I bet it’s soo salty too.

Also.... wait.... with balut do you eat the feathers too!?

 

[ShrekDawg]

Oh and thanks for the replies everyone! I have read every single one and will try to reply to all but there are sooo many now that it is a little hard to keep up. So I apologize. But do know that I have read every one and I appreciate all the responses and input.

 

[Kiki]

I think they’d both taste pretty bad lol at least balut would kinda just be like a chicken nugget? Still meat at least. But this one looks gross and also besides that, look at the ingredients. Clay, ash, lime, salt, rice hills!? I bet it’s like eating mud. And I bet it’s soo salty too.

Also.... wait.... with balut do you eat the feathers too!?

Yes...they eat the whole bird.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Yes...they eat the whole bird.

Okay EW. That’s disgusting haha brains and eyeballs and feet and organs too!?!?

 

[sdm111]

Over the years, ive found my share of hidden or buried eggs but in our heat i Cant take chances. Id crack em n make sure theyre not rottwn thenfeed em back personally.

yep mine get thrown over the fence into the woods with a soft hand lol the only time I ever puked from a smell was a muscovie egg that blew up in my hand.

 

[Folly's place]

That's one good reason to throw them out! Breaking one of those in the kitchen? No way!
Mary

 

[Vicker]

My boxes are open on the front, with about a 2 inch lip to keep eggs from rolling out. I line them with washable nest pads. Multiple hens like to use the same box. Sometimes I put a little bit of hay in. When I had a rooster, I let a hen hatch some eggs in these boxes with a little extra hay. My eggs are always sitting right there waiting for me. Never broken. Easy to spy. Now, when they free-range, and I find eggs in strange places, I only keep them if I know for certain that they weren't there more than a couple of days.

 

[greenlydia]

There are as many opinions about this subject as there are chickens! I'm don't think there is anything wrong with being 18X18X18, but, when I first began keeping chickens, an old farmer told me HIS girls liked a small, almost cave-like nesting box. I haven't measured my nesting boxes since I built them and I'm not even sure I measured them THEN! I just used whatever scrap wood I had and I THINK (emphasis on the "think") the boxes are around 13-14 inches square......maybe 15" but no more than that, and quite possibly not even that big! I use about 4 inches of bedding whether it's shavings, straw or cut hay. (Yet another subject with tons of opinions!) I have all large breed girls and this size box and that depth of litter has worked well for them for 30+ years. They have plenty of room to stand and rearrange the "furniture" to their liking, and the boxes are of a size that is cozy and allows them to feel safe and protected. Many a broody hen has hatched out a herd of chicks in those boxes and everybody seems quite comfortable. I make it an absolute priority that once the warm weather sets in, I collect eggs EVERY day. And while gathering the eggs, I "fluff up" the bedding and remove any poop...….this also allows me to find any egg(s) that may have gotten buried. I've noticed this happens when another hen gets in the box and wants to make some changes to the décor, she will often scratch bedding over other eggs. By not using as much bedding as you are, it is very simple to empty the old stuff out and fill with new, fresh straw. I usually completely clean them out once a month, and since I've removed any poop, I throw the used bedding into the chicken yard for everybody to scratch around in. By the next month, it has virtually disappeared! (The poop I gather everyday goes into a compost barrel that catches rain and turns into a most delightful manure tea for the rhododendrons!) I think this post was originally about what to do with older eggs and I didn't address that at all. I usually have no problem with this since I collect the eggs every day, but there was a time, about 5 years ago, I had to leave town for an emergency. I didn't have time to find anyone to take care of the girls, so I filled up 4, three gallon water fonts, poured an entire 40 pound bag of feed into their feeder, 25 pounds of scratch into the scratch feeder and that was all I could do before heading to the airport. I was gone for 4 days. When I got home and checked on the chickens, everybody was fine, there were dozens of beautiful eggs, but the temperature had been in the low 80's the entire time. Maybe those eggs would have been just fine, but I wasn't going to risk anyone's health, so I threw them all away. It did seem like such a waste, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. I don't think it matters one whit how you decide to raise your girls...….the one and only thing you must be diligent about is cleanliness, in their water, in their feed and in their bedding.

 

[jgarner1327]

Just toss them out. And you can raise up the bottom in the laying box so you don't have so much shavings. then they can't sink into the bottomless pit.

 

[Jrzebra]

Hi there, I just saw this & thought I'd add a some insights that I think may be helpful.
I have been keeping both free-range & cooped chickens for a few yrs, so I often find eggs that I'm not sure of when they were layed. I've found that eggs can sometimes last a lot longer than we'd think, (and that store-bought eggs are a lot older than I'd previously thought!) I collect eggs both for eating & for incubating & I don't like to waste any eggs, so I've developed a system for determining what I do with each egg & it has worked perfectly for me so far. I inspect each egg for freshness & quality using a combo of visual inspection, a float test & candling. Then I grade them from 1 to 4 (1 being the freshest, 4 being unusable). My family (and anyone we give eggs to) gets only #1's- the freshest ones to eat. #2 eggs are just a bit older. The air cells will be bigger, but still good & safe to eat. #2's can also be #1's that have been in the fridge too long, or newer eggs that have cracks in the shell or loose air sacks, or anything else that may make them spoil quicker/ or make them unappealing as people-eggs. #2's either get boiled for animal feed (extra protein), or go into the incubator if suitable. #3's are usually not suitable for people to eat, but ok for animals. They're usually old eggs that have large air cells & fail the float test, but have not gone bad yet. Also, eggs that have spots on the yolks but are not rotten. 3's get fed to animals, or chucked if I am unsure at all if they are safe. #4's are spoiled eggs, partially incubated eggs, or very old eggs with air cells (larger than 1/3 the size of the egg), or old eggs with thin, pale, runny yolks. All #4's get thrown out.

Candle your eggs 1st: not only will that tell you immediately if the egg is rotten or has started to grow, but will also show any fine cracks in the shell. With practice, you will also be able to tell the age (& freshness) of the egg by the size of the air sack, which gets larger as the egg ages. Candling can easily be done by shining a small flashlight into the egg. I've found it is easiest to see into the egg in a darker room. Make a seal by making a tight circle with your hand around the end of the flashlight, to block any light except for a small beam coming thru your fist. Then hold the fat end of the egg against your hand, up to that beam. You should see the air sack on the fat end. On a fresh egg it is small- usually smaller than a dime. It should stay in place & no edges of it should move if you turn the egg. The rest of the egg should be clear & the yolk (if visible) should be round-ish & slightly firm, & will roll around a bit when you turn the egg back & forth.
If the inside is not clear or there are any dark patches inside the egg (besides the yolk), throw it out. If the yolk has an easily seen spot in it, that is much darker than the yolk & bigger than 1/4 of an inch or so, it has most likely started growing. I either try to incubate those, or throw out. Those can still be safe to eat (can be animal feed when cooked), but I prefer to not cook b/c they'll have a blood spot in them when cracked & I'd rather not deal with that.
If the air sac moves around (think the bubble in a level), it is dislodged. Those may still be ok to eat, but a failed air sack will cause an egg to spoil more rapidly, (just like a crack in the shell will), so only eat if you know it's fresh & it passes a float test. (I cook these up for the animals). Any egg with a displaced air sack that has any discolored spot in it is most likely rotten & should be thrown out.
If you have many eggs to check, a float test is a good idea to check age, as older eggs have larger air sacks, so will float more. However, even if an egg is more buoyant, it can still be safe to eat (or cooked & fed to animals). In this case, candling any "floaters" is a good way to determine if they are still edible, or too far gone. As an egg ages, the yolk will break down & become much more liquidy (less viscous). When candled, these yolks will look pale & flattened compared to a fresh egg, and the inside of the egg will look more watery. Once they get like this, they are very close to spoiling, so I throw those out to be safe. Hope all this is helpful, but please remember that if you are in doubt to always err on the side of caution & throw out anything you're not sure about!