Okay to eat eggs if a hen has been sitting on them all day?

[MariLouJane]

I was letting a chicken lay a clutch so she would sit and hatch some baby chicks. My niece was housesitting for the weekend and collected all the eggs (3 dozen) washed them and put them in egg cartons in the fridge. That was nice. My Barred Rock had been getting broody and sitting on them. I guess I could candle them to have a "look see" . They were in the coop for about 10 days ....maybe plus. It only takes 21 days from the beginning of incubation which really doesn't occur untill she is done laying the clutch so they all hatch at the same time.
I sent a dozen home and said "crack carefully before eating" like into a small bowl, "look and smell" . the blood spot means it's fertile.
More protien this way. Not what I had planned. Guess I will start over. but the eggs are most likely still very edible. These are fresh. Think about how long eggs sit in the store, travel in a truck. Home eggs are the freshest you can get. Always crack eggs into a small bowl first. that way if you do have a bad one it doesn't spoil the whole recipe. Professional cooks usually do it that way-love my chickens.

 

[MariLouJane]

Okay, so I did crack a few eggs, It was not very nice. Halfway developed chicks. I guess the eggs are ruined and the chickies have no chance of survival since my niece put them in the fridge. so.........I think I will feed them to the animals. My hen is okay but I am sad about having to toss the eggs. I know my niece was trying to be helpful by going out and collecting eggs while we were gone. Next time I think I will put a chalkboard on the coop with "Coop Scoop" so our well intentioned family members don't have to feel bad......
Sad in Oregon :O(

 

[tweetysvoice]

awwww...

I'm sorry

 

[DonaldFan]

We've been fine so far. My husband picked up a free rooster at our local feed store. The rooster was friendly and our girls LOVE him! So much so that they are increased their egg-laying. We know that they have to be fertilized by now and we can only collect in the evening when my husband and I get home from work. We have two hens that sit on the collective nest during the day. So far we have had no problems. I figure if you can't tell by candling an egg to see if something is growing until after a couple of days then there is time. However, if we find a "secret stash" of eggs that have not been sat on we get rid of the eggs. Mainly because we don't know how long they have been there, if they are fertilized, and if our young ladies have been taking care of them (doubtful).

On a side note - I did try letting my two broody girls hatch some eggs once but they didn't seem to sit on the eggs all day and after candling didn't appear to be growing. My sis-in-law gave me her brooder from when she raised bearded dragons. I'm researching the hatching process now so we can try to hatch out a few inside the house. Really want to see what Brewster the Rooster (Aracauna) babies would look like with my Lucy (Buff Orpington) and C.C. (Bar Rock). We have a marbled orpington, a few more rocks, and a few rhodies, too. Have more breeds but they are still pullets that haven't layed, yet.

 

[Meme09]

For a single day or two under a hen you wouldn't be able to tell a difference so eat them without worry.

Unless you are trying to find out how many weeks you can leave the eggs sitting on the counter before they rot this whole business about 'washing the bloom' off is way, way overblown. Wash them or don't, if you'll be eating them in less than two weeks they'll be fine if the shells were intact to begin with.

Room temperature does make a difference for some times of egg usage which is why the cook books advise allowing eggs to warm up before making merangue.

If you want to get the longest storage while retaining the highest quality though you'll refrigerate your eggs. You can always allow them to warm up again if you need to whip egg whites or whatever.

.....Alan.