Finally have eggs, YAY! (But have some questions)

[Janrhy]

I haven't had ANY eggs until I was out of town for a night and when I got home, I found 14 eggs!!! I was so excited. There were a few here and there around the yard, but a nest of them in the coop. I have a couple questions about the eggs....

How soon do you have to collect them after they have been laid to put them in the fridge. I am unsure of how long the first 14 were out since I was out of town, so not sure I should keep them.

Also, in this nest, there wasn't a hen laying on them, so I assume she wasn't planning on hatching. Is it possible another hen or two (or more) were laying in the same place? Or does one hen produce that many eggs in a short time? I found another nest (under the house) with 7 eggs in it, was wondering if this was from one hen, or if there were more laying in the same nest.

Now, where this nest in the coop was yesterday, we collected the eggs, (still unsure if they are edible as we don't know how long they were there) there is today a hen laying in the exact same place, I assume she has eggs under her. Now, we would like to hatch some, so should we seperate her, or just let her go on her own?

When the hens are getting ready to lay, is that when they are making alot of cackling noises? I noticed about 3 or 4 days ago they were getting awfully loud...

Thanks so much for all your help, I am cluless, but am thankful there is a place I can go for questions and get help.

YAY, we finally have eggs!

Janna

 

[FLOWERPOT]

Hens always seem to want to lay where all the others were laying, so more than likely the nest was from more than one or two hens.
I have 7 nest boxes and it never fails they all lay their eggs in the same two everyday, but not necessarily the same two boxes everyday. I guess they want variety LOL.
As long as the hens weren't broody and staying on the eggs trying to hatch them then the eggs are probably good since you were only gone a night or two.

 

[Janrhy]

Thanks! My husband is so excited to eat these eggs. LOL

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Do all the eggs look alike or are there some variations in color & shape? Many hens have a signature style to their eggs, I can tell which eggs came from certain hens (but certainly not all of them).

You can also do a float test to check the freshness of the eggs. As eggs age the air space grows inside. Place the eggs one at a time in a bowl of warm water. If it sinks & stays horizonal, it's nice & fresh. If it stands up on the bottom, it's a bit older, but still good at least for baking. If it floats on the top, handle it with care & bury it right away!

It's a good idea anyway when using any eggs, especially home-grown ones, to crack it first into a little bowl or saucer before adding it to the pan or mixing bowl. That way, if there's something in or about it that you don't like, you can easily discard it without ruining your whole dish.

 

[Ridgerunner]

How soon do you have to collect them after they have been laid to put them in the fridge. I am unsure of how long the first 14 were out since I was out of town, so not sure I should keep them.

Check out this link about storing eggs. It helps dispell some myths and gives good info.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sust...ggs-a-Year-or-More-Without-Refrigeration.aspx

Also, in this nest, there wasn't a hen laying on them, so I assume she wasn't planning on hatching. Is it possible another hen or two (or more) were laying in the same place? Or does one hen produce that many eggs in a short time? I found another nest (under the house) with 7 eggs in it, was wondering if this was from one hen, or if there were more laying in the same nest.

As others said, hens like to share a nest. A hen will normally lay no more than 1 egg a day. It is possible for one hen to lay two a day, but that is extremely rare. If you have a hen that regularly lays more than 1 egg a day, you need to talk to Tyson or another one of the big commercial producers. They will probably pay a lot for that hen so they can develop a real productive strain. Count on it, many hens laid in that same nest if you were only gone one night. My question is, how many hens do you have? If you were only out of town one night and you came back to 14 eggs when they were not laying when you left, you must have a lot of hens.

As far as a hen trying to hatch eggs, called being broody, if a hen is on the nest 24/7, day and night, she is probably broody. She will only come off rarely to eat, drink, and purge her system. Otherwise, they are just laying eggs.

Now, where this nest in the coop was yesterday, we collected the eggs, (still unsure if they are edible as we don't know how long they were there) there is today a hen laying in the exact same place, I assume she has eggs under her. Now, we would like to hatch some, so should we seperate her, or just let her go on her own?

Wait until she stays on the nest day and night for about 3 days and exhibits the other signs of being broody. You can use the search feature on this site and use the key words broody hen to get a lot of information. Odds are, she was just laying an egg.

When the hens are getting ready to lay, is that when they are making alot of cackling noises? I noticed about 3 or 4 days ago they were getting awfully loud...

That cackling noise is the song they sing when they lay an egg.

 

[Janrhy]

Thanks so much for all the useful information!! The eggs are in different shades, it is nice to know that if there is a pattern I can possibly pinpont the hen to her egg. That will take some time, I have 15 hens and one roo, and there is only one hen that stands out so far, her name is Bella. Does the float test still work if I wanted to check ones that I already refrigerated?

Thanks Ridgerunner, you answered every question, I am so excited knowing all this knowledge I am taking in. We enjoy having, watching and raising chickens! Who knew it would be so much fun!