cracked eggs.

[laura625]

Apparently someone of my birds has been laying her eggs from the roost.
they fell onto the litter/poop, Cracked, and froze ( High temp today was 14F/-10C)
one looks like it may have fallen unbroken, but cracked from freezing.
My first question is:
Will These Be Safe To Eat? the shells were not particularly clean, so, is deadly chickenpoop bacteria likely to have gotten in? would freezing kill it?
secondly, I don't know why whoever it is, isnt using a nest box. any ideas?.
Thanks

 

[Yay Chicks!]

Well, I don't believe that freezing kills bacteria.

I don't usually eat cracked eggs, but I have cooked them and feed them back to the birds.

How old are your birds? When one of mine was young, she would drop them from the roost every once in a while. They were usually soft shelled though... and she grew out of it.

 

[JerseyGiantfolk]

Occasionally, when hens start laying again (or pullets start to lay) they will lay in odd places. Sometimes in the middle of nowhere, sometimes while they are on the roost, etc.

If the cracked egg is very fresh, I'd cook it and eat it. Some bacteria that is frozen will be killed, but other bacteria, like Salmonella will not be killed if frozen.

 

[TheReadyBoys]

Freezing doesn't kill bacteria. It slows it down from producing more. Also, maybe your hen is laying at night and just doesn't want to use the box.

 

[laura625]

@ YayChicks and JGFolk,
Yes, They all are young. (Well, not so young 9 Mo!) but just beginning to lay.I guess they'll get the hang of it.
@ TheReadyboys. Now, that makes sense. It was Cold in that coop.
I ended up cooking the eggs before they thawed and giving them to the dogs.