Help! Someone Accused me of selling old eggs

[rcoleman56]

@rcoleman56 for your question I would start a thread here
www.backyardchickens.com/forums/incubating-hatching-eggs.5/

For a quick answer your hen is broody. It takes on average 19 days to hatch. She is sitting on eggs she and other hens are laying. It sounds like your other hens are continuing to add eggs to the clutch so now you have no idea what eggs are on what day if incubation.
If you want her to hatch some I would candle the eggs under her to see which ones are the farthest along and leave those with her. Mark them so you know which ones they are and remove the rest.

Thank you so much FlyingNunFarm for your suggestions. I have about 9 days or so to go then. Will see what happens. Do you think it would disturb them too much to move/check them right now with it being that few days left? Faye

 

[Birdsong 82]

I agree with two weeks or so. I have started to put a few eggs aside to age specifically for hard boiling, since it makes such a huge difference. Never had to do it before but we're always low on eggs now that we're supplying family as well, so the eggs really are too fresh for easy peeling.

Earlier in the thread @lazygardner posted a method to make them easier to peel

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

@rcoleman56 I would check them.

That chart should give you an idea of what you’re looking at. A staggered hatch under a broody is very hard on the hen. She will want to sit until all eggs hatch. I would remove eggs that are more then a day or two apart in development. You don’t want her to have too many babies to look after either.

Edit: it’s 19 days to lockdown—21 till hatch. Lockdown is when most people stop checking eggs under a broody and stop opening an incubator.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Earlier in the thread @lazygardner posted a method to make them easier to peel

Oh I know that there's methods like steaming, using salt or vinegar, etc. to make them easier to peel. I think everyone has a favorite trick. But letting them age a little also works, and I can boil them as I normally do (straight out of fridge into plain hot water for 15 minutes, then rinse in very cold water, rest and peel) and get an easy peel that way.

 

[rcoleman56]

@rcoleman56 I would check them.
View attachment 1454958
That chart should give you an idea of what you’re looking at. A staggered hatch under a broody is very hard on the hen. She will want to sit until all eggs hatch. I would remove eggs that are more then a day or two apart in development. You don’t want her to have too many babies to look after either.

Edit: it’s 19 days to lockdown—21 till hatch. Lockdown is when most people stop checking eggs under a broody and stop opening an incubator.

Oh, ok. Thank you soooo much! I appreciate this.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

... a customer... accused me of selling old chicken and duck eggs.... I personally know that the eggs she had were only about 2 months old...

A two months old egg is getting long in the tooth especially when it is left laying out on the counter. It is against Federal Law to sell such an egg in Interstate Commerce.

 

[Ljc01]

I worked for a commercial egg production company. Our eggs got to the store within 2 weeks maximum.
12 to 18 month old eggs in a grocery store is a product rotation problem in the store.

 

[bobbi-j]

the eggs she had were only about 2 months old (<1 month old when I gave them to her, she had them for about a month).

That does seem to be a bit old for selling. I don't often sell eggs, but when I do, I make sure they are as fresh as possible.

Curious what the normal is from others.
I very rarely sell eggs but I give tons away.
If they are dirty I keep them to eat.
If over a week old I keep them to eat.
I don't wash eggs and usually don't refrigerate them either.

I tend to give away more than I sell. I do things pretty much the same as you.

Took me mere seconds to write the date collected in pencil on the big end of the eggs when I collected them.

This is what I do, too.

@rcoleman56 for your question I would start a thread here
www.backyardchickens.com/forums/incubating-hatching-eggs.5/

For a quick answer your hen is broody. It takes on average 19 days to hatch. She is sitting on eggs she and other hens are laying. It sounds like your other hens are continuing to add eggs to the clutch so now you have no idea what eggs are on what day if incubation.
If you want her to hatch some I would candle the eggs under her to see which ones are the farthest along and leave those with her. Mark them so you know which ones they are and remove the rest.

Edit: 21 days to hatch! 19 is lockdown

Good advice. Keep the ones that appear to be about the same development, mark them and get rid of the rest. Then check the nest daily and remove any "donations" fro other hens.

 

[Peppercorngal]

Just getting the farm up and going, and a customer of mine accused me of selling old chicken and duck eggs. She said that she has bought eggs from me multiple times that have gone bad (although I'm just hearing about this) and that I need to start dating them because I can't keep track of how old my eggs are. I offered her a full refund, but never heard back. Have plenty of other repeat customers with no complaints, and I personally know that the eggs she had were only about 2 months old (<1 month old when I gave them to her, she had them for about a month).

Just wondering if anyone else has had this problem, what they did about it, and if there is anything I can do differently. I collect daily, keep my eggs in the fridge once collected, and scrub them before giving them to the customer if they are dirty. I inspect each one for holes/cracks. I don't want this person to slander my name before I even get my farm really up and going.

I sell eggs in California. They must be refrigerated by law and I do not wash them, ever! The bloom protects them from absorbing bacteria and I do not wash that off. My nest boxes are lined with straw and my eggs are never dirty. I sell them for $3 a dozen and many regular customers give me $4 or $5 because they love them. I've never had a complaint and have sold out a couple of times. I have 25 laying hens. My chickens are free ranged, the yolks are bright orange and people love seeing the chickens ranging when they come down my road to buy eggs. I sell them from my farm named "Peppercorn Acres". Don't let the nasty lady's accusation bother you. You know your eggs are fine, it was probably something she did or didn't understand. Good Luck!

 

[Shezadandy]

Oh, ok. Thank you soooo much! I appreciate this.

Here's one of the neatest egg development videos I've EVER seen. I've you're not interested in the setup part, just fast forward to 4:44 to see the egg develop.

Also- another good development chart:

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/chicken-embryo-development-views-from/