bad eggs?

[missnatalie]

I just found 12 eggs under the coop, and i don't know how long they had been there? can i tell if they are bad without cracking them open

 

[HouseCat]

Get a fresh egg an a flash light. Hold the light up to the fresh egg so that you can see the size of the air bubble on the round end of the egg. Now with that as a reference, check the others to see how big their air bubbles are. The bigger the air bubble, the older the egg.
Or you could always scramble them up and feed them back to your chickens if you're hesitant on eating them. Once you crack each one open, you'll know if it's a bad egg!

 

[missnatalie]

thanks that helps alot, i will try it. have you tried the floating egg in water theory. if it foats it means it is bad?

 

[HouseCat]

There really aren't any ways to tell if an egg has gone bad other than cracking it open and smelling it. The floating trick and the flashlight trick just give you an idea how old the egg may be. It really depends on the temperature the eggs were kept at. Unwashed eggs held at a temp under 45 degrees can keep for up to 3 months.
I don't like washing my eggs or even getting them wet. If there is any nasty bacteria on the shell, water can push it into the egg. If they're really dirty, I'll dip them in water with a splash of vinegar, wipe them off, and eat them that day. An egg will have an "off odor" well before it will make you sick.

 

[sumi]

I have used the floating method many times and I found that when an egg floats or stands up in the water it's either very stale or off. If the eggs don't lay flat under the water I toss them.

 

[missnatalie]

thank you everyone for the valuable info