First eggs, all over the yard. Still edible?

[ScottsChickenz!]

The March babies have begun to lay eggs, in the basement window box, garage corner, dog house, etc. How long can they be outside and still edible? It'd been 95 and humid off and on. They've been laying for 2 weeks now. I have about 30 eggs I don't know what to do with?

 

[gryeyes]

Try the float test: put the eggs in warm water; if they sink, they're good. If they kinda tilt upwards and sorta float down low, they're old but okay (especially for hard boiling) but if they float, they're bad.

 

[suzettex5]

If your not sure about the 30 you have, boil them and mash them up and feed them back to the chickens as a good treat, egg shells and all. The float test is a very good idea as well. You might want to try putting fake eggs or golf balls in the nesting boxes to give your girls an idea of where to lay. If your girls end up as stubborn as mine, you could try places individual nesting boxes (any kind of box, even an old milk crate) in the area they prefer to nest. You could also lock them up in the coop for a few days till they lay in there, or only let them out after they have 'paid the rent'.