are these eggs safe to eat?

[Spongegirl]

I got 2 silkie hens from a local about 3 weeks ago and thought they were still adjusting to surroundings in the garden. One of them wasn't around so I thought she was gone until she poked her head from her nest today (my garden is packed and she was hiding). She has been sitting on a clutch of 8! I'm shocked to see 8 of them! I now know the definition of "broody". I read on a post about how long and at what temps its safe to still eat them but I have no idea where that post is now and I need to reread. I remember that the eggs have a coating on them that protects them. So do chickens ever lay more than one egg a day? if not, she been laying for more than a week now and I have just been blind. Are they still safe to eat?

I feel bad for her. Guess I better get used to it because this is why I got in the chicken business in the first place. And shame on me for not getting her and her white friend a proper nest box inside their night coop. Tomorrow she will get a nice nest in a safer place. The garden is rabbit wired but she is out there. I hope she will be ok just one more night. I couldn't get the roof off the coop by myself.



Isn't that a neat picture?

 

[Yay Chicks!]

That's a pretty nest!

So, I'm assuming you don't have a rooster? If not, you could do the float test. If they sink, they're good, if they stand up on one end, they are still okay but not as fresh, and if they float, toss them.

 

[ErinG]

Just a guess (and a bump)...but I wouldn't eat those. I'm pretty laid back about food safety too, I will leave eggs unfrigerated for days, most countries don't refrigerate at all. But it seems like there is a big difference between room temp and breast temp.
That is a sweet clutch of eggs

 

[aggie9296]

they lay 1 per day. i have eaten them at 3-4 days out in the heat, but no longer. you can always feed them back to the chickens so it won't be a total waste.

 

[ErinG]

Yay Chicks! :

That's a pretty nest!

So, I'm assuming you don't have a rooster? If not, you could do the float test. If they sink, they're good, if they stand up on one end, they are still okay but not as fresh, and if they float, toss them.

Good to know!​

 

[gryeyes]

That's a very nifty picture! She's certainly got a "concerned" expression on her beak, too!

I would try the float test, first: Eggs that sink are good. Eggs that sorta halfway float below the surface are iffy. Eggs that float on the surface are bad.

Then, just crack the good and iffy eggs into separate dishes, just in case the iffy eggs are something you don't want to eat.

At 8 to 10 days, there will be some development inside those eggs if they are fertile and she's been sitting on them the whole time. If not, no problem. Just do the float test and crack in separate dishes.

 

[Spongegirl]

oh wow! thanks folks. I didn't like taking them from her and no there is no rooster. But I want there to be. Maybe the Silkie baby I have will be but so far it looks like the hens. Ok so, let me make this easier in my mind...if she has never hatched any eggs, then she doesn't exactly know what could be there if a rooster were present. She just knows instinctively to sit the clutch, right? It's ok. Dang, I've got the guilts! That is kinda weird and funny.
I am going to do the float test just to see what happens. But I guess since they have been out there so long, I will hard boil them and give them back to my flock and keep my eyes peeled now that I know she's laying. Hmmm, free dog food too...the dog's fee for keeping the coons away!

 

[aggie9296]

being broody is instinctual and does not require a rooster. 2 of mine have gone broody about 10 times in 6 months and no roo.

 

[Spongegirl]

I did that float test. btw, thanks for that.
they all sank, I hard boiled them,
grabbed one and peeled it. peeled in one piece (love that)
then...


smelled it,


and ATE IT! it didn't smell bad, so how could it be bad? I just couldn't help myself. It was the best egg that I have ever eaten. It was my first!
It's not like it tasted different than any other egg I have ever eaten, but now I have a flock of chickens for the first time and now I have eggs for the first time; there is just something about eating food I garden and eggs from my chickens.

 

[gryeyes]

Quote:
Oh, wait until you scramble some of your own chicken's eggs, or make an omelet! You will certainly taste the difference then!

Congrats on the first egg(s).