How long do eggs keep?

lorihadams

Songster
11 Years
Sep 17, 2008
374
4
131
virginia
My chickens just started laying eggs. How long do they keep before they go bad? Should I keep them on the counter or in the fridge? My kids love eggs but I am only getting 1 per day for now and I can't split one egg between my two egg lovers! What does a bad egg look like when you crack it open anyway, I've never seen one?

Thanks,

Lori
 
Mostly bad eggs SMELL. and the yolk kinda goes brown, if I remember correctly... it's been a while... but you'll know by the sulfur/rotten egg smell.

They should be okay for a few weeks. The fridge v. the counter debate, as far as I can tell, still isn't settled. I was working on a boat for 5 weeks (no shore/supply stops) and the cook swore that they kept better in cool, dry storage than a refrigerator. She kept our eggs in the ship pantry. We had crates and crates of eggs, and I think we had our last egg dish in week 4 of the trip. By that time, we were cracking them into a separate bowl, tossing the rotten ones and then transferring the good ones to another bowl... I still remember tossing rotten eggs overboard in the middle of the ocean, what a surreal experience!

In other countries, eggs aren't usually sold in the refrigerator section, but on shelves like cereal. Still, some people say that refrigerating them helps them keep longer. So -- it depends on whether you have more space in your fridge or on your counter! I know my counters are always packed...
 
Eggs age faster on your counter then they do in the refrigerator. The normal egg lasts about a month but sometimes 2 which would be pushing the age. A bad egg can have a few different things. It could have blood/meat spots in it. The white will be runny. Most of the time you will know you have a bad egg because of the smell when you crack it.
 
Store bought eggs are months old by the time you buy them in the store, but they are refrigerated.
We keep ours on the counter but we do sell, use them, or give them away quickly. We have never seen a rotten one on the counter. B checks any questionable ones that are found in the coop by putting them in a pale of water the bad eggs will float.
 
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There is much controversy over storing eggs on the counter or in the refrigerator. A couple of things to consider here in the US, most eggs are washed and stored in a refrigerator immediately, then transported by truck to a store refrigeration sysytem, yes these eggs need to be kept in the refrigerator where they are more acceptable to picking up odors if not kept in the proper egg containers and ensuring that leftovers are kept in a sealed package, and how old are they by the time you purchase them? We don't refrigerate our eggs or wash them to keep the protective seal on them and they are kept in a flat container were they will be occasionally rotated, we have never had a problem with any of our eggs spoiling, living overseas this is very common since refrigeration system aren't as available like here, and I have never know anyone to get sick.
 

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