How long do fresh eggs stay fresh?

[mamatink7]

Wow! So informative! Thank you!
We just got our first eggs and I was unsure, so I washed them in warm water and refrigerated. Now that I know better I will certainly keep them unwashed at room temperature. We have 6 kids and go through eggs insanely fast, so I have no doubt they won't stay long enough to go bad. Now to find a cute ceramic egg holder!

I know what you mean!! Well go thru a dozen in a day with our brood. Try and find an egg skelter, looks like a twisty slide for eggs. You take one off bottom and rest slide down. Kiddos think it's awesome and it gets us not questioning which ones need to be gone thru first. How many chickens do you have now? are they all laying by now?

 

[mamatink7]

Is taking a damp paper towel and wiping any dirt off considered washing? should the eggs I done that to be refrigerated or just moved to the front of the line? 
Thanks for any help.

I'd just wipe with a dry paper towel, you don't want water on the eggs as that's what takes off the protective coating.

 

[PinkyLee]

I have 13 gunieas that I keep at my cabin. I think I have 2 that are laying because once I pick up the eggs I get 2 a day. So... I read all this that you can keep them for a month on your household table... but no one ever says the temperature. I collected about 40 eggs... I hadn't been there for about 20 days... and I cracked them all in the sink because I thought they might be rank... not one bad looking one in the bunch... I wonder if I could have ate them or given them at least to the dog... my cabin is at Lake Isabella which is considered high desert and I am sure the temperature reached 80 a couple of day but it has been mostly 60 - 70 degrees. I am trying to understand the egg process... so....

I don't understand the process ... people can collect eggs.... leave them unincubated then decide to start the incubation process a week later? so if I had a fertile egg and left it on the counter nothing would happen until I start warming it and rolling it? what starts the incubation the temperature or the rolling it?

My intention is to let my birds out to free range and kill snakes and ticks... I just feel bad wasting their eggs.

 

[User395221]

I just feel bad wasting their eggs.

I'm in the same boat, I hate throwing things away if they are still useful. I found the info on this link helpful.

http://www.frugal-living-freedom.com/old-eggs.html

 

[mamatink7]

I have 13 gunieas that I keep at my cabin.  I think I have 2 that are laying because once I pick up the eggs I get 2 a day.  So... I read all this that you can keep them for a month on your household table... but no one ever says the temperature.  I collected about 40 eggs...  I hadn't been there for about 20 days... and I cracked them all in the sink because I thought they might be rank... not one bad looking one in the bunch... I wonder if I could have ate them or given them at least to the dog... my cabin is at Lake Isabella which is considered high desert and I am sure the temperature reached 80 a couple of day but it has been mostly 60 - 70 degrees. I am trying to understand the egg process... so....

I don't understand the process ... people can collect eggs.... leave them unincubated then decide to start the incubation process a week later?  so if I had a fertile egg and left it on the counter nothing would happen until I start warming it and rolling it? what starts the incubation the temperature or the rolling it? 

My intention is to let my birds out to free range and kill snakes and ticks... I just feel bad wasting their eggs.

I don't think you should waste the eggs, either donate and sell. You have plenty of eggs as gifts from taking care of the girls; many people could benefit from them as well
We, too, will have more than enough (we have a large family but still we have 20 chickens...). Good luck!

 

[PinkyLee]

Thank you for the post about what to do with the eggs

http://www.frugal-living-freedom.com/old-eggs.html

Unfortunately I fall under the category of the eggs are left out for weeks at a time. I don't feel comfortable eating them so I wouldn't want to sell or donate them. I guess I better explain my situation. I have a cabin that is in the high desert of the Mojave, at Lake Isabella. I have a little shed and a fenced in sheltered area. I purchased 15 guniea, 13 made it to maturity, with the understanding that I was going to let them out in the yard to watch for rattlesnakes and gobble up ticks... I do not live there yet. I go about every other weekend. I didn't just put them in a pen and abandon them.... I have a CHP (highway patrol) officer that is there Tues-Sat. The birds have a 55 gallon trash container, converted to a feeder and a 500 gallon water supply with self waterers. The CHP officer checks the feed and water on occasion. I don't really want to bother him and say... can you collect my 2 eggs everyday.... I guess I could but he has such a hard job I would hate to inconvenience him. We are going to be getting into hot weather so I probably won't be cracking any of the eggs I do find. But my question is....

If I have an egg, I'm not suppose to wash off the bloom... yet I have to float it in water to see if it's good... okay... so don't float until I am ready to use....
and if it stays sunk and I crack it in a dish an it doesn't smell bad and it's not discolored... but I don't know how old it is... or if it's been in the heat for days....
but it looks good.... can I give it to the dog?

 

[User395221]

I don't really want to bother him and say... can you collect my 2 eggs everyday....

I'd offer him to take the eggs to use for himself, if he wants. That entirely solves the issue until you are able to move in. You'll still get a daily "ration" when you are there on a weekend.

Quote:
http://www.wikihow.com/Tell-if-an-Egg-is-Bad

According to the links, yes, you could still use the eggs if they have not spoilt. The floating doesn't mean anything other than that the egg is old, it does not mean that it's bad.

Have a look at how things spoil. It isn't heat that causes the spoilage, it's bacteria. Heat is just a nice environment for bacteria to grow. If bacteria haven't penetrated the shell, the eggs may not have spoilt, but the other age-related changes will have happened more quickly.

(I'm just a regular consumer, I'm not a microbiologist and don't have ANY qualifications to advise anybody on this stuff, all I know about eggs I've learnt from the internet.... Personally, if I'm worried, I don't. I just suck up my disappointment at wasting things and send it to the compost.)

 

[mamatink7]

Thank you for the post about what to do with the eggs [COLOR=333333]http://www.frugal-living-freedom.com/old-eggs.html[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]Unfortunately I fall under the category of the eggs are left out for weeks at a time. I don't feel comfortable eating them so I wouldn't want to sell or donate them. I guess I better explain my situation. I have a cabin that is in the high desert of the Mojave, at Lake Isabella. I have a little shed and a fenced in sheltered area. I purchased 15 guniea, 13 made it to maturity, with the understanding that I was going to let them out in the yard to watch for rattlesnakes and gobble up ticks... I do not live there yet. I go about every other weekend. I didn't just put them in a pen and abandon them.... I have a CHP (highway patrol) officer that is there Tues-Sat. The birds have a 55 gallon trash container, converted to a feeder and a 500 gallon water supply with self waterers. The CHP officer checks the feed and water on occasion. I don't really want to bother him and say... can you collect my 2 eggs everyday.... I guess I could but he has such a hard job I would hate to inconvenience him. We are going to be getting into hot weather so I probably won't be cracking any of the eggs I do find. But my question is....[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]If I have an egg, I'm not suppose to wash off the bloom... yet I have to float it in water to see if it's good... okay... so don't float until I am ready to use....[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]and if it stays sunk and I crack it in a dish an it doesn't smell bad and it's not discolored... but I don't know how old it is... or if it's been in the heat for days....[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]but it looks good.... can I give it to the dog?[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333] [/COLOR]

I'd let CHP collect eggs when he's there personally. Yes, you can give to dogs if egg sinks. You can even grab the eggs and boil them to make any hard boiled egg meal as they work better with not the freshest eggs. I now understand what you mean.

 

[manddharris02]

You have to have a rooster to fertilize the egg.

 

[Jack the Dog]

I did the water test just now on eggs laid over the last 3 days and they all passed, by not floating, so no air inside. Our temps have been in the 50s & 60s.