Fertile eggs and summer heat...

[Love2read]

We don't have an AC in the kitchen(only window units in the bedrooms), so it can get pretty toasty on hot days. Since we don't refrigerate my eggs do I need to worry about them starting to develop because of the heat? We usually sell the majority of our eggs and I would hate for people to get eggs and then crack them open to find a a developing embryo.

I ask because I cracked open a weird-looking egg today(gathered 2 days ago) and it looked like it had an embryo developing and it kinda freaked me out. I cracked open a few more and didn't see anything funky, but now I'm worried since we've got about 8-dozen eggs that I was getting ready to wash(only the dirtyones) to get picked up by a customer soon.

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

You can candle the eggs. A developing air pocket is normal, but any kind of redness isn't. If it's a large air pocket, I'd toss it, since the larger the air pocket the longer it's been developing.

Why don't you refrigerate? No, it's not required, but if it seems like you're eggs are developing, then why not ?

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

You can shake the eggs really hard and fast and that will make it impossible for embryos to develop or live.

 

[Love2read]

We don't have enough room in the fridge for all the eggs, lol. Otherwise we definitely would just pop em in there.

I guess we wouod just stash them in our bedroom though. We keep the room at 72°.

 

[donrae]

At only 2 days, I'm pretty sure it wasn't an embryo. Probably a meat spot.

When I have broody hens in the coop, I check under them every other day to remove "bonus" eggs added by or stolen from other hens

. So, sometimes some of those eggs have actually been incubated for 2 days. We store them on the counter and eat them and there's never anything nasty inside.

Last summer, I was incarcerated (okay, actually hospitalized, but it felt like I was in prison

) much of the summer. Family and friends stepped up and cared for my animals, but things like egg collecting was spotty. I've got a feeling eggs sometimes sat in the coop several days, in up to 100degree weather before being collected. My family never got anything nasty, and no one they gave eggs to ever mentioned it either.

I wish I could incubate eggs on the counter, or just in the warm coop

. That would put my broody hens right out of business, and I'd be quite overrun with chicks

 

[Love2read]

That's the egg.

The yolk was huge and splotchy, just like when eggs are fertile and start developing. No blood veins yet though. Based upon pics I've seen online, it fits what a 2-3 day old developing egg would look like.