Floating egg "theory" question

luv my chickens

Chirping
11 Years
Feb 19, 2012
15
0
75
Ohio
Good Morning everyone.... I have a question for all.... I have read soooo many different threads, and I can't seem to get the answer to this exact question. We have several chickens, that have been laying for about a year, and we just got our new group this April and so we will have more laying soon. We seem to have such a steady flow of friends and family who want to "buy" our eggs. I get somewhat nervous still on the proper egg handling procedures, but we gather and store our eggs everyday. Most of the eggs I just package up and put into the fridge. If they have a really bad area of poo or blood spots or something, I will wipe that area off, but I never completely wash an egg, in hopes to not spoil the natural bloom. So at this point, I usually have someone that wants that days eggs. They are never more than a day or two old when I sell them. I had a question from my cousin on the last dozen he had. He said that when he went to boil the eggs for hard-boiled eggs, that 4 of them floated. So he threw them out assuming they were bad.... So my question is, can one of my chickens "lay a bad egg"? The eggs that he was boiling were less than a week old... And they went from my fridge to his. So I just took my eggs (6) from yesterday. They were on my back counter since the afternoon. In the air conditioned house. (Unwashed and unrefrigerated yet). I filled a pan with water, and put the 6 in and 2 stood straight up and lifted to the top of the water. The other 4 lay flat on the bottom... So my question is, are they really bad? I just can't seem to find any threads that address an egg that floats that is literally less than 24 hours old. I can't believe that it could be bad unless a chicken can lay a bad egg?
I would really really appreciate anyone's expertise on this, because I don't want to ever tell anyone the wrong thing when it comes to our eggs, and then someone gets sick... I would feel aweful!!! Thanks to everyone for any input....
Molly
 
What do the floaty eggs looks like in the inside? Smell like? I would check it out, smell it, taste it, etc and then decide if its bad. maybe it just has an air pocket larger than the others.
 
That's interesting. I don't recall fairly fresh eggs ever floating to the top.

The float test does not tell you if the egg is good or bad. As an egg ages, it loses moisture and the air cell grows. Eventually the air cell grows enough that the egg will stand on end on the bottom and if it loses more moisture it will float. The float test should tell you which eggs are older, not which eggs are good or bad.

For an egg to go bad, bacteria has to enter the egg and start to multiply. An egg can lose a lot of moisture and float, yet if no bacteria has entered it, it is still good.

That said, if bacteria get in it, they will produce gasses so it will likely float, so be suspicious of any that float. But that does not mean for sure it is bad. It should mean it is "old", but I sure cannot explain what is going on with your eggs. That just does not sound right.
 
Thank you for the post. I know... I just can't find any information on why a fresh egg would float? I am going to crack the 2 that floated this morning and see if there is anything suspicious... but, I don't have any explanation....
 
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Sorry it took a few days to get back! Life with a 17 month old and 70 new chicks, and 3 - 6 week old goats seems to leave me little time to chat!!! OK, so I cracked the 2 eggs. Both looked just fine? I ate them and I am still sitting here typing? Now one thing I did notice. They were both smaller eggs, and both seemed to have more of an air pocket at the top point when I cracked them. Like the egg just didn't fill up the shell. I just wish it was a black/white answer, because I still don't know what to tell someone if they ask? I guess I will just tell them to crack it and use caution? I just don't think a chicken can lay a "bad" egg.....
Thanks to all, and thanks for the article posts!!!!
 

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