Eggs: How old is too old?

[DaveJ]

I've been wondering for several days why my Araucana hasn't been giving eggs. Well, I found a clutch of 4 eggs under a bench in the yard. I want to keep them, but I'm unsure if I should. It's been rather cool last few days.
Is there a way to tell if an egg is good by cracking it open and looking?

 

[aart]

They should be fine, as long as no one's been sitting on them those 4 days.
When in doubt, break egg into a separate dish before adding to pan or recipe.

Might want to confine birds to coop to habituate them to laying in the coop nests.
Free range birds sometimes need to be 'trained'(or re-trained) to lay in the coop nests, especially new layers.
Leaving them locked in the coop for 2-3 days can help 'home' them to lay in the coop nests.
They can be confined to coop 24/7 for a few days to a week, or confine them at least until mid to late afternoon.
You help them create a new habit and they will usually stick with it.

 

[DaveJ]

Thank you, Chicken Juggler!
I guess I'm not sure if I would recognize a bad egg if I cracked one open. Is it obvious?

 

[chickmomma03]

you can do a float test. if it's no good it will float (well, if it floats I wouldn't eat it anyways), if it's good it sinks. Also, if you're worried about fertility just candle it. If you see blood veining and a little heartbeat don't eat it for sure (if it's been being sat on and they're fertile I would think you should see some development at 3-4 days), you'll then have to decide if you want to incubate or not.

 

[aart]

If it stinks, it's no good.
Floating just means it's older, not necessarily rotten.

 

[DaveJ]

Yes all but our Aruacana are layinhg in nests. She was too until recently. Found another egg today in the yard. I know who it is because she's the only blue/green egg layer.
I don't really want to lock them in all day. They've had free run of the backyard since they were chicks and they would not be happy about it.

 

[aart]

Yes all but our Aruacana are layinhg in nests. She was too until recently. Found another egg today in the yard. I know who it is because she's the only blue/green egg layer.
I don't really want to lock them in all day. They've had free run of the backyard since they were chicks and they would not be happy about it.

Yeah, but they'd get over it in a couple days.

Free range birds sometimes need to be 'trained'(or re-trained) to lay in the coop nests, especially new layers.
Leaving them locked in the coop for 2-3 days can help 'home' them to lay in the coop nests.
They can be confined to coop 24/7 for a few days to a week, or confine them at least until mid to late afternoon.
You help them create a new habit and they will usually stick with it.