Egg Washing

[RedNeckRosie]

I'm sorta new but sorta not new to chickens and I KNOW there is A LOT of variety in opinions on this. After reading here for literally weeks here is my question.

My EE's left me 3 eggs this week, they are the only ones that would leave me a pink egg and my other 2 girls are around 2 years old, I suspect that their eggs would be a bit bigger amd consistent after they get used to their new home, we have only had them 2 weeks.
EEs I bought 3/31.
So the new eggs are small, not farters but had so e blood on them.
I dont want to wash the bloom off, I think it's the safer way to go but wanted to take pictures of them to compare later.

I used a very soft nail brush, soft as in soft toothbrush soft, under water warmer than the egg to just get the blood off. I had already put it in the fridge so it was cold.

Is this right or did I get it backwards?

What is the shelf life of fresh eggs? I do refrigerate, it gets hot here and some weeks we dont use that many eggs, I also use the bowl of water to see if I have a floater or sinker.

Thank you all in advance for your help & thoughts.

BTW I can spell but am on a touchscreen tablet and autocorrect is evil.

 

[missnu01]

If an egg is really dirty I will wash it..by that I mean I sometimes run it under got water and rub it with my hands...more often. Just wet a paper towel with warm water and wipe them down. If you are eating them it doesn't really matter whether you wash them or not. As long as the water is warmer than the egg and I won't lie I sometimes pull eggs out of the the fridge with tiny feathers stuck to them. Because I don't care if the shell is dirty because I'm not going to eat that part. To me it is like washing an orange or banana... why? I'm peeling that part off anyway. If I'm going I hatch the eggs then I just wipe them down with a warm wet paper towel.

If an egg is super super yuck I will wash it before sticking it in the fridge because if not the kids won't eat them...

 

[RedNeckRosie]

Good, so it sounds like I did the right thing. My kids are older but great nieces and nephews might frown at poo or feathers, or right now a bit of blood. Im not overly concerned with the washing until we are going to eat it then I dont want to risk a feather in my eggs. It happens though!
Thank you!

 

[missnu01]

Yep. Not a problem

 

[kmollyhughes]

I don't wash unless they're really bad. I don't refrigerate fresh unwashed eggs either. I have an egg holder on my counter so I know what has to be used first. If they don't get used in a few days or so I'll stick them in the fridge. The only time I ever clean them, or wipe anything off, is if I'm going to sell them or steam them. We get 20+ eggs a day and only a couple need anything cleaned off. Eggs are crazy little works of art, and people have treated them like I do for hundreds of years.

 

[RedNeckRosie]

Afraid our cat might grab a midnight snack of eggs on the counter and since its an egg ... I think I'm compulsed to toss in the fridge.
Not to mention the little ones come over and I'd probably end up cleaning up a lot of eggs!

I thought about just using the counter but the cons outweigh the pros for us. I forget everything and am also afraid I would forget to rotate to the fridge.

 

[missnu01]

Our dog will steal eggs if we don't watch him. I only leave out eggs I'm going to incubate. Because while I know it isn't necessary I don't have an egg holder that sits on the counter and eggs roll, and when I need an egg my first instinct is to go to the fridge door.

 

[RedNeckRosie]

Yes, it's probably more of a habit.