Can I keep my fertilized eggs on the counter before using them?

[TeeMom]

None of my eggs are ever refrigerated unless they are really dirty and I wash them. If left unwashed they can sit on the counter for 2 weeks. That's the generally accepted rule. Unless you read the FDA website, then they will scare you into refrigerating everything.

But, no, fertile eggs will not start developing at normal room temp. The majority of my eggs are fertile and after storing them on the counter for over a year, I have yet to find an inedible egg.

 

[TeeMom]

Oh...and coconut oil is unnecessary. When a hen lays an egg it's left with the bloom on it which helps to protect it from bacteria entering through the porous shell. Just don't wash the bloom off and you're good.

 

[Beekissed]

I agree! And as for the 2 wks time frame....I store on the counter for much longer than that, mine are all fertilized and we don't have AC in this house. Never had a spoiled egg yet nor have I seen any development past a little larger bull's eye in the egg and our house can get well above 80 in the summer. Been doing it that way for years and years and years.

 

[donrae]

My fertile eating eggs set on the kitchen counter also. Unwashed. I try to keep track and use the oldest first, but I have a teenage boy who likes to play musical eggs and make patterns with the different colors, so they get moved around all the time

. To counter that I make an effort to use all the eggs once a month or so--breakfast for dinner, make a batch of breakfast burritos for the freezer, etc. I'm sure I've had eggs setting longer than that at some point in time, but they've never been nasty. Since the question is specifically about fertile eggs, I'm thinking the concern is embryonic development starting? I've never seen that. No AC here, the kitchen runs in the 80's during the summer and the eggs just hang out.




If I could have achieved development/incubation just setting on my kitchen counter, my Honey wouldn't have had to build me that big ol Monster Incubator

Fertile or not, if an egg gets missed and gets old, it doesn't necessarily "spoil". It just gets old and loses moisture, the quality goes down. When cracked, the yolk looks funny and just unappealing. But not rotten or smelly. I'm usually not hungry enough to eat them at that point, so they go to the dogs or cats.

This was the best study I've found, besides anecdotal evidence from those of us who do this and just live through it

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...Ok5GvAJpi-H-axlQQ&sig2=jwXQhKgcopLHASndftwxUw

 

[rebrascora]

They are good on the bench (counter top) for just about two months unwashed in my experience, fertile or otherwise. Once they get beyond a month it's always a good idea to crack it into a separate container rather than straight into the pan or mixing bowl. If it smells ok, it is ok and I've eaten quite a few that have been at the wrong end of 2 months in the summer particularly, when there was a glut with no ill effects.

Edited to add that I've got several roosters in my flocks and pens, so most of my eggs are fertile and not seen any development whatsoever keeping them on the kitchen work bench.