This morning I head out to the coop and to my delight there are four eggs waiting for me. I am all the more impressed considering the sub zero temps. Sadly, one of the eggs had frozen and cracked. I brought all four eggs in the house. The three good ones went in the fridge and the fourth cracked one I left on the counter. The crack extended about 180+ degrees around the midsection of the egg and was about 3-4mm wide, with some frozen egg white protruding. When I came home for lunch, the crack had not only closed, but it was barely even visible. I wiped off the egg and it appears fine, but for the now hairline fracture. Freaked me out!
I had one frozen, too this morning and did just like you, guess I will go check it. I am givning it to the dog. Dang it is cold here!
The insides expand when they freeze causing the cracking. When they thaw out the insides contract and the crack seals itself back up as long as there's no dirt or smutz in the crack. Bacteria can get into the egg through the crack, so make sure you cook the egg thoroughly and use it ASAP. I use frozen/cracked eggs unless they are really dirty.
With all this talk of frozen eggs I'm kicking myself my not checking on them this morning. It was -14 wind chill this morning. YICKS!!!
Hi Rangely, We're a little southeast of you and boy has it been cold! Only found one frozen egg in the past few days. It's amazing how long it can take to freeze them when it's like this. A couple of days ago I read here that they about 104 degrees when they come out. That made feel better about checking for eggs only a few times per day. Stay warm it's almost over!
-30 and only had one frozen egg laid on the floor of the coop, not in the nestbox. I have 35 hens and 5 nestboxes, they only lay in 2 and there are 3 boxes they seem to sleep in, but not lay in.
I've been getting some cracked eggs, too, from the cold. But, I can't always collect them until the end of the day, so some have been sitting getting cold for at least 8-10 hours. Glad to know that they'll re-seal. Still, my dogs are happy about these, because I wasn't sure about 'em, so eggs are back on the dog's and cat's menus.
