Accidentally put possibly developing eggs in fridge for eating

[sillygrilla]

I have a broody who has been sitting on fake eggs; I plan to put some purchased chicks under her. I had to go out of town for a couple of weeks unexpectedly, and the friend who was taking care of my chickens went to the coop to collect the eggs once while she was off the nest. Not thinking, he collected about half a dozen real eggs that had been laid in her nest since I left and put them in with all the fresh eggs. He can't remember which egg cartons he put them in (he collected about 10 dozen while I was gone). I'm going to try candling them all when it gets dark to see if I can see any obvious development, but I'm wondering if there is another way to tell if they might have been developing or if they are rotten, in case I can't tell by candling. Would a float test work? If so, how would a rotten or partially developed egg float and how would I tell it apart from a fresh, undeveloped egg?

Any advice is greatly appreciated. I don't want to give my friends any inedible, possibly disgusting eggs! Thanks!

 

[lazy gardener]

You can do the float test with them. this will only determine how large the air cells are. Your next step would be to crack each egg into a cup and give it a sniff test and visual inspection before using it.

 

[lazy gardener]

As for giving questionable eggs away. DON'T! If you can't use them yourself, and if you can't determine which eggs were left in the coop under this hen (if I am reading your post correctly) then only use them for your own use.

Finally, being broody takes a lot of energy out of a hen, whether she's sitting on fertile eggs or fake eggs. I would not allow a hen to sit on fake eggs for a couple of weeks, and THEN give her real eggs which would keep her sitting for yet an other 3 weeks. It's highly possible that she will use up all of her reserves, which may "turn off" the broodiness before the clutch of fertile eggs hatches.

When dealing with a broody hen, I either break her right away, or give her 2 - 3 days on the nest to see how serious she is, then load her with eggs.