Egg Handling and Storage

[LT]

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Please share where you found that egg rack. It's awesome! And your eggs are beautiful too!

 

[gritsar]

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Someone already posted the link to the Mother Earth News experiment, but I'll post it again:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/1977-11-01/Fresh-Eggs.aspx

And the #1 conclusion of that experiment:

[1] Unwashed, fertile homestead eggs seem to store much better than washed, unfertile agribiz eggs. Why? Probably for the simple reason that they're unwashed ... and not because they're fertile. Hen fruit, as it comes from the chicken, is coated with a light layer of a natural sealing agent called "bloom". And, while a good wash may make a batch of eggs look more attractive, it also removes this natural protective coating ... leaving the eggs more subject to aging and attack by the air and bacteria in the air.

As to why to wash eggs in water that is at least 20 degrees hotter than the egg itself (and never EVER soak them): Using water that is warmer than the egg itself causes the contents of the egg to expand, pushing out dirt and germs. Using water colder than the egg itself has the opposite effect; the contents will shrink, pulling dirt and germs through the pores of the eggshell into the egg.

http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/epublic/pages/publicationD.jsp?publicationId=798

The US is one of the few countries where we traditionally refrigerate our chicken eggs. With store bought eggs it's necessary because the bloom has been washed off. Yeah the commercial egg industry puts a coating on the egg to make it nice and shiny in the carton and that does give the washed eggs some protection, but it's again a case of trying to outdo Mother Nature. Nothing beats the bloom. If the eggs hang around for more than a week or two I will pop them into a bowl in the frig., but they rarely last that long in this household.

Slightly OT - the same thing goes for feeding chickens a vegetarian diet. Chickens are not now nor have they ever been vegetarians. Chickens are omnivores, specifically opportunistic omnivores. My favorite quip when seeing the label "Vegetarian Fed Chickens" is that I sure hope they have a bunch of vegetarians feeding the chickens, because to do otherwise is not of any benefit to the bird. Making vegans out of chickens may make us feel better about ourselves, but it's a disservice to the bird.

LT - not to answer for dbounds, but that is called an egg skelter. I've yet to find one for sale in the US but you can order them from a UK seller on ebay. Just type egg skelter into the search box on ebay. Again, the UK being one of the countries where eggs are not routinely refrigerated.

Hope that answers your questions Ole Rooster.

 

[nifty50chick]

Lots of wonderful information!

Thanks everyone!

 

[Nicole01]

I collect immediately after being laid. My SS announces every time there is a hen on the nest that is just about to lay. She has great intuition and has not failed me yet! I try not to pick them up until they are fully dry. I then show the kids or hubby if they're around of my proud egg and store in an egg carton from right to left. I do not wash until right before eating. I keep the coop very clean and I disinfect the coop weekly with oxine. I have an OCD with the coop and clean several times a day.