Question of the year!!

[luckydux]

If you needed a laugh, here's your chance. I've been messing around with all sorts of silly chickens this year and pretty much learning as I go. I've started getting eggs and now I've got questions. I probably shouldn't ask them all here but the first one I have is what is the proper procedure for storing these eggs? I'll be eating what I can but I'm unsure of how long I have before they go somewhat bad or where to leave them.

Simply put, can I just gather eggs and leave them in an egg carton on my shelf until I eat them?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[Sphinx]

Old habits die hard, so I refrigerate my eggs. I keep them on the counter til I'm done collecting for the day, and then they go in the fridge.

There's a lot of people who say that the natural "bloom" on the eggs that is an antibacterial. I guess they are fairly shelf stable for a good month at least.

 

[luckydux]

Okay thanks. Would having roosters in the flock change that figure any? I'm pretty sure all the girls are being taken care of and the eggs stay at 70F in the house after i collect them. Also I do not wash them after collecting them

 

[luckydux]

Its getting down to the teens here and my water is freezing so I'm wondering what happens if an egg gets left out over night? I assume its edible but ??

 

[luckydux]

If I'm posting wrong please let me know. I'm new to forums and I guess don't know how to partake yet.
Any advice will be taken

 

[sumi]

Fertile eggs are quite edible and won't start developing into a chick unless you warm it up to around 99* and leave it at that temperature. You can store eggs at room temperature, but I read that eggs stored in a room ages up to 7 times faster than eggs stored in a fridge.
If you leave eggs outside and it gets cold enough to freeze you can just thaw it and eat it. A good hard freeze may crack the shell though, so be careful when you thaw it, so you don't end up with egg everywhere!

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Fertile eggs are quite edible and won't start developing into a chick unless you warm it up to around 99* and leave it at that temperature. You can store eggs at room temperature, but I read that eggs stored in a room ages up to 7 times faster than eggs stored in a fridge.
If you leave eggs outside and it gets cold enough to freeze you can just thaw it and eat it. A good hard freeze may crack the shell though, so be careful when you thaw it, so you don't end up with egg everywhere!

Perfect answer. X2

 

[luckydux]

Thank you kindly!! I never thought of all the little things that would arise while in this chicken venture. I'm a believer in "its the little things that matter" and forums seem like a way to learn anything.

 

[sumi]

I've been in the chicken business for years, hatched chicks, raised 100's of them too, had over 100 chickens at one point... and I still learn new things all the time! And I've learned an awful lot of that right here, on this site.

Chicken keeping is a fascinating hobby.