Free range eggs found in nest after 4 days, still good?

[MurphFarm]

We free range our chickens. We found a nest near our porch with 4 eggs in it. It had to have been over the past four days because we had them in their pen before (someone babysitting the flock for us) Are the eggs still OK to eat even though they were outside for four days?

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Are the eggs still OK to eat even though they were outside for four days?

Hi there and welcome to BYC!

The eggs should perfectly fine to eat as long as they weren't fertile AND your ambient temperature ALSO close to 100 degrees the whole time.

Otherwise.. even fertilized eggs are perfectly good at room temperature.. and only the air pocket inside the shell will get larger as time passes from evaporation.

When eggs are laid.. the invisible bloom layer is an antibacterial coating that protects the egg shell pores to prevent bacteria from entering.

Any time I find a nest I'm not completely sure about.. I boil the eggs and feed back to the animals.. smashed under foot on the ground.

 

[Xouie]

Well my grandmother used to have an egg basket on the kitchen counter and none of us died from eating the eggs. Not that I recall anyway....

*not a scientific answer, unless you’re accepting very isolated-case empirical evidence.

 

[aart]

If they stayed dry, I wouldn't worry.
When in doubt....
Open eggs one at a time in a separate dish before adding to pan or recipe,
use your eyes, nose, and common sense to decide if egg is OK to eat.

 

[aart]

It had to have been over the past four days because we had them in their pen before (someone babysitting the flock for us)

Curious, where did they lay before you left them contained while you were gone for (how long?) That should have had them habituated to laying in the pen/coop nests.

 

[dfsndc7]

We just had the same discovery. Our chicken laid 6 eggs, next door , 6 feet from our fence, under the neighbors small open trailer. We just found her under it. Crazy part is she came home every night for our hen count. We gathered her and the eggs from under the trailer. Non fertilized. As we have no rooster. And floated the eggs. They passed the egg test so they are still fresh. But we decided we have plenty of eggs still so we will choose to cook them for our dogs treats. It was a fun discovery. I'm just wondering what I have to do to remind her to lay in our coop. Might have to put those ceramic eggs back in the coop.

 

[aart]

And floated the eggs. They passed the egg test so they are still fresh.

Floating an egg will only tell you how old it might be.
They float due to evaporation when older.
It will not tell you if an egg is 'good' or 'bad'.
Plus then you've wetted the egg so it should be thoroughly washed and refrigerated.

When in doubt....
Open eggs one at a time in a separate dish before adding to pan or recipe,
use your eyes, nose, and common sense to decide if egg is OK to eat.

 

[dfsndc7]

Floating an egg will only tell you how old it might be.
They float due to evaporation when older.
It will not tell you if an egg is 'good' or 'bad'.
Plus then you've wetted the egg so it should be thoroughly washed and refrigerated.

When in doubt....
Open eggs one at a time in a separate dish before adding to pan or recipe,
use your eyes, nose, and common sense to decide if egg is OK to eat.

Yes I was not specific enough. I float about 2 doz. Of my eggs right before use at a time. I keep 2 dozen washed and floated eggs in my fridge for family consumption. We consume heavy amounts of eggs weekly as a family. Of course no confirmation until cracking them open but when I said fresh I meant it was recently laid eggs as I suspected when i found them.