How long are eggs good if......

[Sylviaanne]

I'm not sure where to post this so I'm posting it here.

I thought I had a rooster but it doesn't crow, it doesn't have spurs and it's tail feathers aren't curving downward. So I am thinking it is a hen although it has a larger comb on it's head than it's egg mate and is somewhat of a bully.

I found a nest and left the eggs because I hoped they would be fertilized and I would have baby chicks. The hen hasn't gotten broody and it's been about a month since she started laying. I took some of the eggs out to put in an incubator but quickly figured that it would be no use if I have no adult rooster.

I left 5 eggs in the nest and one more was laid, then she moved or the other one started laying.

My question is: How long are eggs good for if not collected every day?
Also, is the floating egg test accurate?
Thanks, Sylviaanne

 

[ChickyBangBang]

Do you mean how long are eggs good for eating after being laid or how long are eggs good for hatching chicks - after being laid? Sorry...I just can't tell which of those two questions you're asking.

I was told by my 'chickenfreak' friend that when an egg is laid it is good for up to 14 days to be able to be hatched if it's a fertilized egg...but starts losing its 'success rate' after day 10. Sometimes that is how long it takes for the hen to have a nice sized clutch to sit on. The egg she laid on day 1 is just as fertile as the egg she laid on the day she started sitting on them.

She also has a very picky hen though. Gertrude lays an egg, and looks at it when it's been laid. If she doesn't like something about it she will turn around and shove it out of the nesting box with her butt and it splats all over the sand on the floor. If she likes the egg for whatever reason, she pushes it back to the back of the nesting box and saves it for when she has more that she likes. She said Gertrude's clutches are usually only 3 eggs at a time because she's so picky and splats most of what she lays. Anyway - 14 days MAXimum is what I'm told (for hatching them).

As far as how long after eggs are laid are they good for eating? If you haven't washed the eggs, than that protective coating from mama hen is still on them...no bacteria. My friend had a name for that coating but I don't remember what it was. She said you can pretty much eat any unfertilized egg for a very long time, due to the coating on them. Eggs go bad when bacteria enters the pores of the shell and into the egg itself...and that usually only happens when they're broken, cracked or when people wash them.

All this that I wrote is what my 'chicken friend' has told me. She's been raising chickens for 20+ years now, so I trust her.

 

[Sylviaanne]

I was asking for the 2nd answer you gave me. I had a bunch of eggs out there, must have been over 18, don't remember now. I brought them in and put them in water. Any that floated, including those that moved loosely on top of the other eggs I disposed of. I appriciate the effort you make locating the answer I needed. Thank you. Sylvia