Just found a clutch of eggs

[Kmac1]

I've been getting 1-2 eggs a day from 8 hens. They just started laying about a month ago. I work away from home 14 days them home for 14 days. I have brush pile in the yard out by the hen house for cover from predators if they need it. I checked there for eggs before I went to work 2 weeks ago and found none. When I got home I checked again and found 26 eggs. Should dispose of them or keep them

 

[aart]

Depends.....on the temp and the weather.
Not sure I'd eat eggs that had been out in very hot temps and/or had gotten wet, especially if they had any poop on them....
...or a broody hen might have been sitting on.

Only way to know for sure is to break one egg at a time into a dish before adding to pan or recipe,
give it a good look and smell, then decide.

Not sure of your situation but might want to 'train' them to lay in coop nests.
Free range birds sometimes need to be 'trained'(or re-trained) to lay in the coop nests, especially new layers. Leaving them locked in the coop for 3-4 days (or longer) can help 'home' them to lay in the coop nests. Fake eggs/golf balls in the nests can help 'show' them were to lay. They can be confined to coop 24/7 for a few days to a week, or confine them at least until mid to late afternoon. You help them create a new habit and they will usually stick with it. ..at least for a good while, then repeat as necessary.

 

[FlyWheel]

Birds lay eggs for the purpose of making more birds, not feeding you. So yeah, if given the chance to lay a secluded nest they may very well take advantage of the situation. Sometimes even if they aren't broody. Even domesticated chickens still have some of their natural instincts intact.

As others have suggested, test them first. I might add you may wish to candle them first or you may be in for an unpleasant surprise.

 

[JennaMW14]

Agree with the other... Good Luck!

 

[Kmac1]

The temp was in the low 70's for 3-5 days, no rain. It did freeze 2 nights the day before I came home which actually counts for 3 of the eggs being cracked and had leaked on some of the eggs. I believe 2 of my hens were laying in the nest, if so then the eggs would be 13 days old when I found them. I agree with and would be fine cracking them in a bowl first, ah but my dear wife said no way. For someone who has been raised in a small rural farming community living on a farm herself she is 100% city girl, so much so she will not feed or water the sole provider of her much loved farm fresh eggs while I work out of town 14 days. That being said I just hate to throw them away so I am thinking I could crack them and scramble all the good ones and feed them to the chickens and dispose of the rest. Of course after 32 years of joyful marriage I am wise enough to wait till she is off to the city for shopping or some other mission she has designed to get away. Sorry for getting off topic just had to explain. Thanks for your helpful replies.

 

[aart]

That being said I just hate to throw them away so I am thinking I could crack them and scramble all the good ones and feed them to the chickens and dispose of the rest.

That's an option for sure.

... so much so she will not feed or water the sole provider of her much loved farm fresh eggs while I work out of town 14 days.

That's just a darn shame.

 

[birdwrangler057]

A while back, I had the same problem. My hens had stopped giving me my average egg intake, and they would suddenly disappear one at a time when free ranging. It made me pretty nervous, so I started searching for them, and what did I find under my old shed; 35 large brown eggs! My chickens tend to abandon a laying spot once I take eggs from it so I haven't had too many problems.