How long until they explode?

[TJAnonymous]

I have two broody hens who didn't have any fertile eggs to sit on so I ordered some from eBay. The eggs I ordered were light blue EE eggs. My order was placed on Tuesday (6/2). I think they were shipped on Wednesday (6/3) and I received them on Friday (6/5) and put them under the hens immediately. So I'm guessing they were laid on either 6/2 or 6/3 but not completely sure.... My husband and I went out on Sunday evening (6/7) and candled the eggs using a flashlight. Couldn't really see much except maybe a dark shadow which I assume was the yolk. Certainly no spider veins or anything like that... I put the eggs back under our hens. I also decided to order a new candler rather than keep using a flashlight. I'd like to re-candle the eggs this Friday (6/12) or Saturday (6/13) night which should put the eggs at around 10-11 days old.

My question is when do you typically see eggs begin to explode if they are bad? How long do they "ferment" before reaching that state?

 

[hysop]

I’ve removed infertile eggs on day 11.

And I’ve had eggs quit at around day 8 or 9 and I removed them on day 18

No explosion.

Just do the sniff test. Usually if they don’t stink they won’t be exploding anytime soon.

 

[TJAnonymous]

That's good to know.... I would also assume that the environmental conditions play a significant role. It's been pretty hot down here in the south and has averaged in the 90's with the heat index over 100 for the first few days that my girls were sitting on the eggs. The past few days have been really nice (thanks to Cristobal!) with temps in the 70's and low 80's. I would think that the hot, hot weather might have bacteria & gas build up faster in bad eggs... Of course, the crappy hot weather is coming back starting tomorrow or Friday but I don't think that will be significant enough to cause an egg to explode prior to the weekend if they usually don't "go toxic" until after day 10-11. Surely if these eggs are viable, I will know for certain when I candle them on Friday evening.

 

[Tonyroo]

Do the smell test and seeing liquid swirling in an egg, remove immediately or you'll have homemade chicken bomb.