Eggs! Good or bad??

[LexsPeeps]

Hello all! I have tried googling how to tell if an egg is bad or good, most results come up with the water test....if the egg is bad it will float, sinkers are good. How well does this method work? What should I look for if an egg is bad when I Crack it open? Sometimes we get an egg that has a small black dot on the yolk and I'm not sure what it is or if it's safe to consume. Our eggs stay fairly fresh, we eat most of them and I scramble the older eggs to feed to our flock when we aquire an abundance.

 

[Poultry parent]

If it floats it's bad, that is a very reliable test. If it's bad it will smell.

 

[LexsPeeps]

Other than Google I haven't heard of this method before so I wasn't sure how reliable it was, thank you, if the egg is "contaminated" with something will the float test still work? Or is that a method for freshness?

 

[Poultry parent]

What do you mean by contaminated? What would they be contaminated with?

 

[LexsPeeps]

I've read that fungus and bacteria can contaminate eggs

 

[Poultry parent]

There's plenty of bacteria on the shell already, as long as you don't wash them the bloom will stay on, and will protect the egg

 

[LexsPeeps]

Ok, I wasn't sure how those things would get into the egg, we wash our eggs as soon as we pull them out of the boxes, and we check for eggs twice a day. I'm curious of these things because I will Crack an egg open and the yolk has the sperm attached to it like normal but sometimes the yolk has a black/brown dot on it or 2. Is that normal? Should we stop washing them, we use water no cleaners

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Ok, I wasn't sure how those things would get into the egg, we wash our eggs as soon as we pull them out of the boxes, and we check for eggs twice a day. I'm curious of these things because I will Crack an egg open and the yolk has the sperm attached to it like normal but sometimes the yolk has a black/brown dot on it or 2. Is that normal? Should we stop washing them, we use water no cleaners

A little bit of eggucation for you. ....when you say"see the sperm attached to it like normal" are you referring to the white, firm, squiggly looking thing (s)? If so, that is not sperm it is the chalzae. Spetm is microscopic and invisible to the naked eye. ...IF an egg has been fertilized the visible sign, preincubation, is that the germinal disc (small whit spot on the surface of the yolk) will look like a bullseye (concentric rings), unfertilized eggs just have a plain white spot.
Red, brown or pink spots inside the egg (on the yolk or in the white) are blood spots, meat spots, etc. Not harmful, not a reason to not use the egg. ..can be picked out or mixed in depending on level of squeamishness. They happen in commercial eggs to, but are detected in quality control and those eggs are not packaged for store sale, ending up in other egg products and uses instead where they aren't a problem

 

[LexsPeeps]

A little bit of eggucation for you. ....when you say"see the sperm attached to it like normal" are you referring to the white, firm, squiggly looking thing (s)? If so, that is not sperm it is the chalzae. Spetm is microscopic and invisible to the naked eye. ...IF an egg has been fertilized the visible sign, preincubation, is that the germinal disc (small whit spot on the surface of the yolk) will look like a bullseye (concentric rings), unfertilized eggs just have a plain white spot.
Red, brown or pink spots inside the egg (on the yolk or in the white) are blood spots, meat spots, etc. Not harmful, not a reason to not use the egg. ..can be picked out or mixed in depending on level of squeamishness. They happen in commercial eggs to, but are detected in quality control and those eggs are not packaged for store sale, ending up in other egg products and uses instead where they aren't a problem

That was very helpful, thankyou! I guess I should've realized that the sperm would be to small to see but that's what my mom told me it was when I was little lol should have done more research. When googling some of these questions it's hard to find what your specifically looking for or find mixed information.

 

[Mace Gill]

As eggs age, gas from bacteria builds up and that causes them to float.

If the egg sinks, it is good. If it floats, it is bad! If it sinks, rests on the bottom, but starting to bob upward a little, it is good, but use it now.