How Many Eggs Did You Get Today?

[pennyJo1960]

I do not wash mine either keep clean shavings in the nests keep a bowl of eggs on the counter others go in egg cartons customers know mine are fresh they have the bloom that is how they want them fro me bright orange yolks lots of flavor

 

[bruceha2000]

Yep! I sell 1/2 dozen a week to a neighbor next door to my old house. They keep saying how much better they are than store bought eggs, even the ones that are "pasture raised".

 

[GC-Raptor]

what's the longest the eggs can stay in the nest before they are bad for consumption ?

In spring/summer/autumn, when temperatures are above freezing, I check for eggs at 5am, when I open the coop, at 9am, when I give them a treat of mixed seeds, and at lockup.
In the winter, in below freezing temps, I also check at 1pm and around 4:30pm.
Last winter I only had 2 or 3 eggs freeze and crack, by checking 5 times a day.
Check them immediately while still frozen. Cracks will be hard to see when the eggs thaw. GC
Edited to add: Not removing eggs daily can invite egg eaters, like snakes, rats.
Also if an egg gets broken in the nest because they all use the same nest box or two, could cause a hen to turn into an egg eater.

 

[Wilmer Gehman]

I have a sad story at my house. Today I only got one egg out of 22 hens! Something is not right here.....

 

[pennyJo1960]

I have a sad story at my house. Today I only got one egg out of 22 hens! Something is not right here.....

Do you have a light on? what are you feeding ? how old? breeds?

 

[ChuSayBok]

@Wilmer Gehman, me too. I should have at least a dozen hens laying. I still think 2-3 may be laying in woods and I'm not home enough to track them out there and they fly over the fence. I had 2 laying a couple of weeks ago and one has stopped. I've read about the short day thing, but last year I had 6 hens laying consistently through until spring, with maybe 1 exception. It's very troubling and inconvenient. I hope they start back by spring and don't all go broody at the same time like they did last year.

I will be grateful for the one egg I get. It's from my only olive egger to date, so if I had to pick one hen to lay, it would be her. I've got 4 of her daughters I hope lay olive eggs, but none have laid at all to my knowledge, and they are now 8 months old.

 

[karenerwin]

Hey guys and girls. My welsummer hen 8mo laid 3 eggs this week. She not brooding, what's the longest the eggs can stay in the nest before they are bad for consumption ?

Depends on the weather. With cool weather I would say a long time! Almost like keeping them in the refrigerator but without using electricity! If in doubt you can always float test them, but as long as the temps are below 80 degrees, you should be good to go.

 

[karenerwin]

A LONG time if no one is sitting on them. If they are fertile they don't start developing until the hen (or incubator) warms them up. As for how long? I can't give you a specific number but summer before last one of my White Rocks decided to lay out in the shrubs. I didn't find the nest until there were 13, maybe 15 eggs in it. Thus the oldest was at LEAST 2 weeks +, out in the yard in July.

No rooster so they weren't fertile and she never sat the nest anyway. They all passed the "float test". Put the egg in a container of water (a 1 cup measuring cup is fine). If it sinks, eat it, if it floats, don't eat it.

The bigger problem is if you live somewhere that the temps go below freezing. An egg can be below freezing for a relatively short time, maybe a few hours. I once picked up an egg off the coop floor that was laid overnight when it was well below freezing. The shell was cracked, nothing leaking out meaning it cracked as the egg expanded. Once it warmed up to room temp the crack disappeared, one would have to know it was there to see it. But when cracked open, the white was runny and the yolk chalky. It wouldn't have been dangerous to eat but the texture sure wouldn't be enticing.

You can also candle them (like you would if you were hatching them). The candling also allows you to see cracks in the egg shells that may have disappeared when the egg unfroze.

 

[karenerwin]

@Wilmer Gehman, me too. I should have at least a dozen hens laying. I still think 2-3 may be laying in woods and I'm not home enough to track them out there and they fly over the fence. I had 2 laying a couple of weeks ago and one has stopped. I've read about the short day thing, but last year I had 6 hens laying consistently through until spring, with maybe 1 exception. It's very troubling and inconvenient. I hope they start back by spring and don't all go broody at the same time like they did last year.

I will be grateful for the one egg I get. It's from my only olive egger to date, so if I had to pick one hen to lay, it would be her. I've got 4 of her daughters I hope lay olive eggs, but none have laid at all to my knowledge, and they are now 8 months old.

It may also be due to older hens. Usually they lay really well during their first winter and then drop off more and more every subsequent winter.

 

[bruceha2000]

In spring/summer/autumn, when temperatures are above freezing, I check for eggs at 5am, when I open the coop

How often do you find eggs that early? Other than the odd one laid off the roost at night, mine don't lay that early.