Egg safety?

[summerhatch]

Ok, I really hope I'm not asking a "duh" question here

...So how long is it safe to leave the eggs in the coop before they're collected and stored for consumption? It's been three days since I've been able to go out and collect, so I felt better just disposing of them rather than taking a chance with contamination. My neighbor says she heard that people in Africa leave them out for weeks, as long as there's no rooster. I prefer not to put my family at risk while I check it out, though. Thanks!

 

[Mahonri]

Here in AZ, we collect a couple of times a day so as not to get cooked eggs. (It's over 112 out there right now)

I leave mine out at room temp in the house for a week before I put them in the fridge.

(In case someone needs hatching eggs)

If you live in cooler climbs... you are probably fine to eat them.

 

[gallinamama]

I am new to raising chickens so I frequently look on the websites to get help. I found this one article so I thought I would post it.

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

This article comes from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extention

"Dirty eggs should be washed in water that is at least 20 degrees warmer than the eggs. A good water temperature is 90-120 degrees, or as hot
as the hands can tolerate, for about 30 seconds. or until the egg has been cleaned. This is so the contents of the egg will expand and 'push'out any
invading microbes.
"It is recommended to use a nonfoaming, unscented detergent with which to wash the eggs. Eggs can absorb fragrance from a scented detergent,
resulting in an off flavor. Unscented automatic dishwater or laundry detergent can be used. Wear rubber gloves as these materials can irritate the skin.

"After the initial wash, bleach can be used as a sanitizing dip with a ratio of 1 tablespoon bleach to a gallon of hot water, followed by a rinse... Afterward
set each egg aside to dry.

"Clean eggs can also be dipped into the sanitizer if desired."

I also found on another website this information reguarding the collection of eggs:

www.frugal-living-freedom.com

In the warm summer months, you'll want to collect, clean and refrigerate your eggs regularly, but it won't hurt if eggs stay in the nests for a few days in
between collectiing. The warmer weather typically won't present a problem if your nests are shielded from direct heat.

Don't leave your chicken eggs ungathered for more than three days because you risk:
spoilage due to heat
breakage from chicken traffic
cracked eggs from"egg drop"
dirtier eggs from chicken traffic

In the winter, the primary concern is freezing. As long as the temperatures stay around 28F or higher, you'll likely not see any freezing of eggs that are
gathered each day........

I hope this helps...

 

[Amanda9107]

Hey I am hoping to get a little advice on my crazy chicken situation. I am in south eastern Nebraska and have 2 chickens. When it started getting cold at night (about 2 month ago)I started putting my chickens in our garage in a enclosure, however my chickens figured they're way out and now hang out in the rafters of the garage. Before I put them in there they hadn't laid before and a couple weeks later I found my first egg in they're nest! However, I never saw another one after that so I figured it must be too cold for them to lay. Well, upon some hunting around in the rafters for something my husband found about 3 dozen eggs! So, my question is, is there any way for me to tell if any of these are safe and/or edible still? The temperature around here has fluctuated from decently warm (70's) to really cold (20's) in that time span and I wasn't sure how that might affect them. Anyways if anyone has any advice I would greatly appreciate it! I would hate to throw them away if they are okay. Thanks!

 

[sumi]

Fill a container with water from the cold tap and make sure it's deep enough to submerge the eggs. Place the eggs one by one in the water and see what it does. If it lays flat on the bottom, under the water, it's still fresh enough to eat. If it stands up or floats, toss it.