Frozen Eggs

[BallyFarm]

Do any of your frozen eggs crack? My duck eggs seem to always be cracked and frozen solid inside. I decided to peel away the shell and see how the egg looked inside just for fun. But I wasn’t sure if there was a way to prevent cracked frozen eggs.

 

[DobieLover]

I have heated nest boxes. I haven't lost an egg yet. The lowest temperature range a batch of eggs saw all day was from 9 - 19F. I collected 7 eggs that day at 7:30 pm.

 

[BallyFarm]

I don’t have electricity down by my coop. It’s almost an acre away from my house. So I’m toting water a good chuck of the day back and fourth. But it only my large **** eggs my hens eggs don’t crack.

I have heated nest boxes. I haven't lost an egg yet. The lowest temperature range a batch of eggs saw all day was from 9 - 19F. I collected 7 eggs that day at 7:30 pm.

 

[bruceha2000]

I just check frequently so the eggs don't get a chance to freeze. If you are at work all day the only thing I can think of is to somehow warm the nest boxes.

 

[cmom]

I have a friend who lives in Alaska. During the winter months she comes home from work and collect her frozen eggs. I asked her about it and she said she stores her eggs in her freezer and when she needs an egg she takes what she needs out of her freezer. I tried it out of curiosity. Yes the egg shells will crack. I thawed then out and ate them and they were perfectly fine.

 

[NatJ]

Water gets larger when it freezes. The inside of the egg is mostly water. Therefore it gets bigger, which makes the shell crack.

Or at least, that's what I've always assumed is the explanation. Eggs definitely do crack when frozen! (And then leak if you let them thaw.) Sometimes the yolks have a funny texture after freezing, but the whites are just fine.

 

[Folly's place]

I wouldn't eat a cracked unwashed egg, because of possible (likely!) contamination getting inside. Just be careful and think about what you are dong here. Washing the unbroken shells, and then cracking the contents into clean containers, and freezing, or using right away, makes more sense to me.
You could crack the already broken frozen eggs, and cook them, shells and all, for the chickens.
Mary

 

[bruceha2000]

The worst frozen one I had must have been laid not long after the girls went to roost, I found it in the morning. When thawed the shell closed up, you could hardly see the crack. But when opened the white was runny and the yolk chalky.