refrigeration required?

[sarahvan]

Hello,
Happy Easter everyone! My wonderful neighbor has 3 varieties of chickens.They lay blue eggs, white and brown eggs. They are so good! My question is: he doesn't refrigerate them. He keeps them in a chest of drawers in a drawer. He says, they don't need to be refrigerated. Is that correct? I get a dozen a week from him. I boil them up and eat around the next day or two. Haven't gotton sick yet. So, perhaps he is right. I still need to know the right answer. I live in Florida, Tampa Bay area. It is gettin' hot too. I'd sure appreciate the correct answer, so thank you in advance.
Sarah

 

[faykokoWV]

If kept for short periods like that you don't need to refrigerate them. I wouldn't put them out in the sun on a 90 degree day, but in a cool dry place out of the sun or in the house they should be fine. Many people keep them in a basket in their kitchen rather than refrigerating.

 

[TheMainException]

If he's keeping them inside his house, there shouldn't be a problem. Refrigeration simply slows down the natural growth of bacteria and the degradation of the egg. If the eggs are kept for short amounts of time (2-4 days) and then refrigerated for a few more, you should be fine.

 

[EweSheep]

Ive kept eggs up to seven days and did just fine. As long the house is cool not extremely hot, you would be best to refigerate the eggs in the summer time after a few days sitting on the counter.

 

[CMV]

I deliberately age some eggs on the kitchen counter to make them easier to peel after hard boiling. My eggs are usually so fresh that peeling them after hard boiling is nearly impossible unless they are at least a week old. Leaving them un-refrigerated will speed that aging process along.

 

[woodmort]

There should be a sticky on this: An egg is designed to stay unrefrigerated until the hen has completed her clutch so she can start brooding them. Since she would be wasting her time with less than a dozen eggs--usually the clutch is more--this means the first egg laid is going to be unspoiled after a couple of weeks. The reason for this is the the antibacterial layer that covers the egg as it is laid. As long as this layer is kept intact the egg will not go bad from bacterial infection. Therefore you can keep your eggs in a reasonably temperate environment for several weeks at a minimum without worry about their going bad. If, on the other hand, you wash this layer off using soap and water--something routinely done in commercial egg farms--the eggs should be refrigerated. Since the USDA requires the washing of all eggs, those sold in your local supermarket in the USA are marked to be refrigerated. This is not a requirement in most European countries where the eggs are sold from store shelves just like cereal.

As an addition to this: Eggs in a clutch begin to develop at about the same time so they will all hatch at the same time, this means a hen doesn't warm them to brooding temperature until she feels she has enough eggs to make her time on the nest worthwhile. Therefore as long as eggs are gathered within a reasonable length of time after laid, there is little danger an embryo will begin developing.