Hidden nest of eggs! What now?

[donrae]

I had no idea that eggs last that long at room temperature. I've been throwing out the ones I didn't collect after a day (unless the weather is cool). Are you sure I can eat an egg that's been in the nesting box for 2 or 3 days?

You've been throwing out a lot of good eggs! Even in the summer my eggs sometimes sit out for a day, and even when I bring them in my house isn't air conditioned so room temp can be pretty darn warm. The US is one of the only countries where eggs are sold refridgerated, my understanding is in Europe and Asia they're sold room temp.

Here's a link to a great study done on different methods of storing eggs and how long they last, what degrades, etc.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/1977-11-01/Fresh-Eggs.aspx

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

I had no idea that eggs last that long at room temperature. I've been throwing out the ones I didn't collect after a day (unless the weather is cool). Are you sure I can eat an egg that's been in the nesting box for 2 or 3 days?

You'll be just fine as long as your temps aren't too high. I personally wouldn't eat an egg that had sat out in temps above 90 degrees, but we have fertile eggs and an egg that had sat in summer heat (98 degrees or so) will have started to develop. Ick.

Also, you don't need to throw those eggs away. Mash them up with their shells in a pan and scramble them or hard-boil them and mash them up shells and all and feed them back to your hens. You can do that even if they've sat out at higher temps. You can also feed the eggs to your dog... if you can stand the sulfur farts!

 

[Coop Deville]

The only issue I have with feeding the eggs back to the hens is that it might encourage them to cannibalize all of the eggs they lay. Is that possible?

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

The only issue I have with feeding the eggs back to the hens is that it might encourage them to cannibalize all of the eggs they lay. Is that possible?

Not if you cook the eggs first and crush up the shells. Don't feed raw eggs or whole shells.

Chickens aren't smart. To them, a cooked crushed egg and a raw egg in the nest don't have any connection to each other. They're as different as strawberries and tuna fish.

 

[RollinWithTheStones]

The only issue I have with feeding the eggs back to the hens is that it might encourage them to cannibalize all of the eggs they lay. Is that possible?

I always hard boil them, then crush them up and toss them in the coop, they scatter about and then they scatter even more as the girls are eating them. The only time I've had issues with chickens eating their eggs was when they were laying on them, they'd eat the bad ones.

 

[Coop Deville]

Very helpful. Thank you all!

 

[DianaMallory]

Confine them to the coop for a couple days and a simple way to keep from finding hidden nest is stop letting them free range!