Is the egg still good?

[chickengirl01]

So I'm not the best at collecting my eggs daily. I usually get to it about twice a week. In the summer, if I don't collect them first thing in the morning, I throw them away.

But in the winter, how important is it for you to collect asap if you plan on eating them?

IE this week, I collected 4 eggs in the beginning of the week, and 4 at the end.

It's been pretty cold all week, maybe max 50 but the last 4 days have been in the 30's?

I washed them off (most were clean already, but I like to give them a rinse) None were poopy.

I tested them with the water trick, and they sunk like rocks.

BUT, interestingly enough, the eggs I bought from the supper market that I've been using during my egg laying lull, stood on end. (well, they are about a month past sell by).





But anyway, how if they are clean and sink, is it bad to eat those who have been sitting in there for a few days to a week if it's cold?

 

[acw123]

i have read that eggs could be stored at room temp for up to ten days and be perfectly edible. I don't know what room temp temperature actually is but I have to think it is well above 50. If it were me and it is cold I would use them. In the summer...I don't know.

 

[Frost Homestead]

they sound fine. eat away. I say they're safe out there for at least a week, especially at those temps.

 

[BBUTTER]

They're perfectly fine. In fact, you don't need to throw away summer eggs, either. As long as the eggs sink, the insides don't smell, and there are no discolorations (excluding blood spots) in the yolk/white, they are fine to eat for well over a month. My hubby and I tested some that had been hidden in the barn for about a month in the summer. Only one was bad, and it probably had a hairline crack that we couldn't see which would have let bacteria in. FYI, eggs are not refrigerated in Europe.
If your eggs are fertile, you might want to candle them first to be sure you don't see any development.

 

[abbylane35]

I would say that when it is cold out, you are good to go with eating the eggs. I do... The only problem I have is when it gets REALLY cold out the eggs sometimes crack before I get out there

Then I have to buy store eggs...So I try to check early in the morning and right after I get home from work.

Good call on scrapping the summer ones though...especially on the HOT days

 

[BlazeJester]

WHAT?!??! NOOOOOO!!!! Stop wasting eggs!!!

I don't know where you live, but you don't need to be throwing out any eggs because they're not collected daily. The bloom (antimicrobial hen juices) protects them from bacterial contamination and it would have to be really, really hot (over 100F) to have them "half baked" and needing to be thrown out. I've collected and eaten eggs that were two weeks old... and the eggs in the grocery store are 2-3 weeks already when you get them!

I would be far more concerned about freezing temperatures in winter. Eggs will crack due to water content and then they actually will not be safe to eat (and the texture will be messed up from freezing).

At least feed them to your chickens if you're throwing away eggs that are a couple hours old!

 

[chickengirl01]

Thanks guys!!!

The eggs I threw out in the summer was after a few 80 degree days sitting out there. Maybe even over a week

As far as candling, that's really interesting. I actually added a few chickens to my group late this summer and I was told they were all hens, though, they were young yet.

One was this guy:




He's much bigger than this photo, I'll have to get a photo with my camera. He has blue, green, black, tan, etc in his feathers. Really pretty guy!

I'm almost certain he's not a hen! He doesn't crow yet (and has never) so I'm hoping, if he's a roo, I'm in the clear and won't have to get rid of him bc he's quiet.

Here's some of my other chickens:





I have a few others but no photos. I'll have to get more pix.




If that guy is a roo, should I be candling all my eggs?

Also, if I want them to hatch, do I just leave them? I've never hatched eggs. Should I get an incubator? It's exciting

 

[Frost Homestead]

I love the silkie mix roo in the bottom photo

Candling the eggs is only useful once you or a broody hen have already began incubating the eggs. You candle them to see if there is a little baby chicken swimming around in there. If they haven't been actively incubated you wouldn't see anything if you candled them.

If you want to hatch some and you only have one hen it'd probably be good to get an incubator (or more hens!

). If your hen isn't broody she won't sit on the eggs (and once she's broody she also won't lay any eggs until she's decided she's done)

edited to say, for some reason I just saw that you wrote you had a couple others (chickens) when I first read it I though you were talking about the pictures. I need some coffee. I'm hitting my afternoon slump

 

[chickengirl01]

The silkie mix at the bottom was sold to me as a hen, so I've been assuming it was a hen. It's name is "Pants" because it looks like he/she's wearing pants. It doesn't crow.

The one at the top was also sold as a hen, he/she hasn't crowed either (well my bf CLAIMS he heard him crow but I don't believe him). I think it's possible it's a roo though because of the colorful feathers and such. He's much bigger than the others and has that beautiful tail.

The middle was supposed to be a hen as well, it's a gold laced polish.


Nothing is crowing yet. What age would they start to crow?
I haven't seen any of my chickens sitting on eggs so I guess they aren't broody? I'm new to having roos. I've always just had hens that lay eggs, and I take them.

None of the chickens I have, have spurs. Everyone talks about how the roos have spurs. Do all roosters have spurs?