Found eggs! Can I eat them?

[Chickapop]

My chickens are about 24 weeks old, I've been waiting so patiently for eggs. One of the 4 is squatting and super loud in the mornings before I let them out to free-range, so I figured she would be laying soon. They all "look" ready.
This morning I followed the loud hen and found a nest of 6 eggs under our porch steps - yay!
So I have a couple questions - it has been in the 20's at night and 30-40 during the day for the past week. I cracked open the dirtiest egg and it was not frozen, but they may have frozen and thawed and refrozen and thawed during the nights. Can I still eat them or should I be cautious and trash them? None are cracked.
Second - I know I should confine to coop/run for awhile to encourage laying in nest boxes. But she is so ridiculously LOUD before I let them out in the morning and I have neighbors. I might drive the neighbors crazy. Any advice. So proud of my girl, even if she isn't doing it quite right

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I wouldn't eat real dirty eggs but those that have froze may be cloudy or the texture off on them but otherwise safe to eat if they aren't cracked. Check them carefully as sometimes cracks are hard to see. You could always just let your hen continue to lay in her choose spot. A few fake eggs should keep her coming back. Otherwise fake eggs in your nestboxes will show your pullets the safe place to lay.

 

[Gray Farms]

They are probably ok, but I'd toss them just to be safe.

 

[Summerbirds]

My one hen did something like this she would lay eggs on the snow then the egg would freeze to the snow or ice. I still ate them one was covered in mud and poop. I think you should toss them, I ate them only because I knew they were under a day old.
Later she started to lay in the nesting box.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I'd probably toss them to be safe, but if you are going to risk it, check carefully for cracks. I used a flashlight to "candle" our first pullet egg this winter, since I feared she dropped it from the roost... ended up feeding it to the dog anyhow just as a precaution.

 

[Shamo Hybrid]

What's wrong with eating a frozen egg? Don't we freeze meat and thaw it to eat? If anything freezing it will help kill bacteria and preserve it from spoiling. Am I alone here in thinking this?

 

[Redhead Rae]

If it goes below freezing at night, I wouldn't because the shells could have fine cracks in them, letting in bacteria. You could perform a float test to see how fresh they are if you really want to eat them. You can probably at least feed them back to your birds, if you scramble them.

 

[MissChick@dee]

If you’re not sure scramble them and feed them back to your girls. It’ll be so good for them. And if it were me I’d keep them in the run and close to the nesting boxes so they’ll learn to use them.

 

[JedJackson]

The problem is not frozen eggs, it's the possibility of several freezes and thaws, and the fact that there is no way to know for sure how old the eggs are. The easiest solution to the hens being loud about wanting out is to just let them out, but keep tabs on where they lay. In fact, it would be a good idea to mark 2 or 3 of those eggs and leave them in the nest-- that way you will know the fresh ones from the old ones. Check that nest daily, look around where they are foraging for other nests, and check the nest boxes. Most will tell you to keep them locked up, but I think a different approach might be better for your situation. Also, congrats on getting your first eggs!

 

[bobbi-j]

You can lock her up to retrain her. It may or may not work (I have a very stubborn BR that no matter how long she is forced to stay and lay in the coop will go right back to her favorite hiding place as soon as she's let out).