Found a nest of 28 eggs!!

[Taglet]

I was wondering why my hens had taken a little break. Last night, I discovered that they hadn't at all. In fact, they were extremely busy the last two weeks, laying a huge pile under a prickly bush right next to the hen house. Now that I've removed all the eggs, at my own peril.... the rooster attacked my face while I was doing so, I hope they'll resume their egg laying in their nesting boxes inside the hen house.

Question: the eggs range from being two days old to 15 days old - I have no way of knowing how old which ones are. The days have ranged from 80 degrees for a high and the evenings down to 30 degrees. I have a rooster so I'm sure a certain percentage are likely fertilized. I'm inclined to throw them all away. Would the eggs be safe to feed to the dogs?

 

[lambchicks]

I think it would be ok for the dog if the dog eats eggs on a regular basis.

 

[PaintedWolf]

They should be fine for the dog. Ours eat eggs all the time, and dogs are not nearly as susceptible to bacteria as we are (e.g. raw meat).

 

[dkosh]

I agree my dogs love eggs and wait for the cracked ones I can't sell. The only thing that would keep me from giving the egg from you cluster would be if when you cracked it open, it is rotten.

 

[kateseidel]

I hate it when that happens - and it just happened here too. I was surprised at how much they had slacked off for the winter, and just found a nest in my tractor barn, with two dozen eggs. I scrambled them and fed them to the dogs. Kind of a win-win for everybody but me!!

 

[Scooter&Suzie]

I was wondering why my hens had taken a little break. Last night, I discovered that they hadn't at all. In fact, they were extremely busy the last two weeks, laying a huge pile under a prickly bush right next to the hen house. Now that I've removed all the eggs, at my own peril.... the rooster attacked my face while I was doing so, I hope they'll resume their egg laying in their nesting boxes inside the hen house.

Question: the eggs range from being two days old to 15 days old - I have no way of knowing how old which ones are. The days have ranged from 80 degrees for a high and the evenings down to 30 degrees. I have a rooster so I'm sure a certain percentage are likely fertilized. I'm inclined to throw them all away. Would the eggs be safe to feed to the dogs?

Put the egg in a jar of water. If it floats, it is bad. If it stands on its tip, it is about a week old. If it lies flat on the bottom it is fresh.

 

[suebee]

Same happened to me and my favorite broody was missing. I cried all night just knowing she was going to get eaten by a predator. Next day I searched high and low. One more spot near the coop...the up turned tree from hurricane Irene. But she wasn't there. I turned around and saw her under a small bush. OH Joy! She was alive! I picked her up and she was on at least 20 eggs. Now I know why I only got 2 eggs a day from 13 hens in the coop. I let my dh composed the eggs. I normally would give my dog some but they looked really nasty. Can't believe my dog didn't find the nest of eggs before I did!!