Question re: Egg Handling

[Treasure]

Hello everyone

My next door neighbor recently started raising Aracuna (sp?) chickens and they are laying up a storm! They have had chickens in the past, but not at this location. She has started giving me eggs which is WONDERFUL. But, until now, all of my eggs have come in a carton with a use by date. My questions are:

1) How long can an egg stay in the coup before it gets to the fridge and still be safe? (we have days that can get up to 100 degrees lately).

2) Should I wash the eggs before I use them?

3) How long do they stay safe to use in the fridge?

I asked her these questions and she just said don't worry, just use them as you need them. Well, I need to know a little more than that. I'm a city girl from the get go living in the country now and trying to learn some new things. I love the chickens outside my window wandering and they love following us around (I know they probably just want to be fed, but it's still great). I get a kick out of them high tailing it all the way across the field when they see us in the morning.

Thanks for any help you can give me

Treasure

 

[rufus]

Eggs should be collected daily, but if one gets missed, it is no big deal. Clean off any dirt you see, but generally they shouldn't be washed. They will keep for months in the fridge. Fresh eggs tend to be more colorful than store eggs. The yolk is yellower or sometimes orange. No big deal. The yolk stands up higher on fresh eggs. Sometimes it take a while for city people to get used to fresh eggs, but in reality, they wouldn't eat store eggs if they really knew how old they were.

Cracked eggs should be discarded or used in baking.

Rufus

 

[Treasure]

Thank you Rufus!

I've already discovered the difference in taste and appearance. My family already has a preference for them over store bought. I also like that they come from "happy" chickens rather than the poor ones kept in tiny cages.

Treasure

 

[ozark hen]

welcome treasure!

I had asked a similar question a short time ago and was told they would keep for a couple weeks or more if not first refridgerated. One BYC'er used to live on a boat and the eggs were not refridgerated. Go up to the blue bar on the top of the page and under Search type in something like..egg storing or the such and it should bring up all the threads on how long you can keep eggs. store bought eggs are kept much, much longer before the customer purchases them.