chickens started laying! Egg questions

Chihirolee3

Chirping
Apr 8, 2018
17
39
64
nowhere Iowa
So my Rhode island red pullets have started laying! They were born in February. I have no roosters, but I do have guinea fowl (males and females). My miscovys haven't started laying.

So I have a few egg questions. I am very new to birds and have only had my birds free in their run since we June 1st. I got my ducks and guineas last fall and raised them in our basement. My pullets I got from Tractor Supply (4 hens), and I love them so much. But now that nearly everyone is laying, I know nothing about knowing if eggs are good enough to eat. This is why I got my birds as my husband and I go thru 2 dozen eggs a week when we bought from the store (they are staples for us and I cook/bake with them alot).

So here's what I do know: don't immediately clean them (at least if they aren't filthy), and collect them asap. I get the eggs everytime I check on them as the guineas just lay anywhere and everywhere.
But I haven't eaten one yet....I'm scared to crack one open and have rotten egg smell in my house. I put them in the fridge right away now, and have about a dozen in there from the past week. And my guinea eggs are rock hard. I've stepped on a few without breaking them. I am not sure if that's normal, but my guineas seem to have no vent issues. So, with all that said, any advice is helpful to a noob like me.
 
Relax and start enjoying your eggs. If you collect them daily you are not going to get a rotten one unless one stays hidden for a while. The reason an egg goes rotten is that bacteria gets inside and multiplies. Hens can normally lay eggs in a hidden nest for a couple of weeks, then sit on them for 3 weeks before they hatch, and still not have an egg go bad.

The last thing a hen puts on the egg before she lays it is a liquid that quickly dries to form a layer that helps keep bacteria out. As long as that barrier is in place it is very effective. If that barrier is compromised by washing that layer off or scratching it off, or maybe the egg is very dirty then bacteria can get in.

But even if bacteria gets in you don't have a problem unless it starts to multiply. That requires a certain temperature, the warmer the egg the faster it goes bad. Incubation temperature is about perfect for bacteria growth. In your refrigerator it is almost certainly to cool for bacteria to grow. If yo are that concerned sniff the egg before you crack it. You can usually smell a rotten egg through that porous shell.

I suggest you always crack one of our eggs in a separate bowl before you use it. Our eggs can contain internal defects like blood spots or meat spots. The commercial operations have machines that candle their eggs so they don't sell any defects like that which could upset their customers. Those types of defects happen more often than many people realize. They sell those defective eggs to bakeries, pet food makers, or other places that crack the eggs before they use them.

If you wash or scratch that coating (called bloom) off the egg you should refrigerate it. Those eggs can last for months in the refrigerator. I store unwashed but pretty clean eggs on the kitchen counter at room temperature for weeks sometimes and they don't go bad. So go ahead and start using your eggs.
 
There have been times neighbors have given me chicken eggs. Neither my husband nor I like store bought eggs. They are bland but get the job done so to speak. Just like store bought. Had straight from the cow's milk a decade ago, and I still remember the taste. Store bought milk is slandering, but now I live in an area where dairy isn't common, and thus can't get non homogenized or pasturized milk (pasturized milk isn't bad either, its just milk that's been heated to kill bacteria).

I've had guinea eggs before too and they are super rich! Richer than chicken eggs. I have a few plastic egg cartons for my fridge and my little guinea eggs are just too small. My Rhode island red eggs are already bigger than the extra large eggs from stores. I might have to make a new tray for the cartons. It's good to know these eggs will last longer than store eggs. I have about 3 dozen already collected.

Now to train my chickens to use their nesting boxes and not copy the guineas. *Grabs golf balls* Thank you for the advise!
 

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