I have been searching to find the answer to my questions even did the search feature on this website and still came up with no answer so can someone help me? Because I am a first ever newbie to chickens! How long does an egg have to be laying in the nesting box or after it was laid for it to get spoiled? Like a time limit when to get them out of the nesting boxes and into the fridge? I have read where it's good to check the nesting boxes twice a day but I am a fresh leary person because I got food poisoned before and ever since then I wouldn't eat a more than 2 day old food. I am confused about the storage thing too? I have read that it's okay to store eggs at 50-55 degress F and then I read that the USDA recommends that cold foods be kept below 40 degrees F. Now for the egg layer part.. My Buff Orpington (I think that's what she is) laid her first egg yesterday at 18 weeks old.. Now the question is.. Is it normal for a first time egg layers first egg be big? Because her first egg was big then the second one which arrived about 4 hours later was twice as small.. Thank You So Much for trying to understand and hopefully answer my questions!!
Eggs won't spoil at room temperature for a couple weeks or longer. If it's hot in the coop collecting a couple times a day is good In the fridge several weeks Storing foods at 40 or less is not so much about freshness as it is about slowing down the growth of germs New egg layers are often erratic Fresh egg test: http://busycooks.about.com/od/quicktips/qt/testingeggs.htm Imp
You can test eggs to see if spoiled by placeing in a bowl of water. If it stays at the bottom of the water it is good. If it floats to the top it is bad. The older an egg gets the air cell inside gets bigger causeing it to float. Also any cracked or open eggs should be discarded. But eggs shouldnt spoil in a day. Ive left them on counter for several days. The hen actually needs to gather them for several days before she begins to lay a clutch. As to the first egg being big it could have been a double yolk and the next a normal size single yolk. Sometimes young pullets when they first start to lay will lay a few double yolkers or even shell less eggs or soft leathery ones. Hope this helps! But I dont know actual time frame on the eggs being good but in the fridge they can last a long time I think a Month.
My aunt would just break an egg into a saucer before she added it to whatever she was going to add it to. If something is wrong with an egg, not often, she would just have to throw the one egg out not the whole dish. BTW, she also did the saucer bit on store bought eggs after she moved to town and no longer had chickens.
