Storing Eggs

[ChickensRDinos]

I am sure glad that Myersfarms asked this question.

I have been putting mine under warm water and lightly washing mine with my hands. Then I dry them and place them in an egg carton in the fridge. We dont eat that many eggs so I was wondering how long I could keep them stored there. I give mine to the neighbors but I certainly dont want to give them a bad egg and make them sick.

So, I guess the answer is: it is safe to keep them for a long time and it is just a matter of who one talks too. I also didnt know that one could leave them out on the counter for a period of time.

Thanks. (Hope I made sense)

You can leave them out if you do not wash them. If you wash them you need to either eat them right away or put them in the fridge as you have now removed the bloom that keeps out bacteria.

 

[myersfarms]

thanks again everyone. This was very helpful!!

 

[tntgrandma2011]

My girls are starting to lay now, 2-3 eggs a day. I've been washing them then putting them in the refrigerator until our grandchildren come next week. Are they still good? Also how long can I leave them in the nest before collecting them? The girls aren't laying at the same time everyday so I know several have been in the nest overnight.

 

[Chris King]

Quote:
Just wanted to add a note to these archives from an anatomical and physiological perspective. This so-called "bloom" is little more than a coating of mucus, and like all mucous coatings (e.g. on our teeth), it can actually be an excellent medium for bacteria.

It's also worth noting that hens don't have a separate rectum and vagina, but rather a common opening called the cloaca or vent that is shared by both the digestive and the urogenital tracts. So, eggs will inevitably be coated with faecal bacteria, no matter how clean they look.

While you can do what you like with your own eggs, it might be wise to wash any eggs you intend to sell or donate to others at some point before they leave your kitchen.

-Chris King-
(veterinarian... wishing I hadn't snoozed through those boring poultry lectures now

)

 

[rckirby]

Got my chicks from Tractor Supply in April. This morning there were two small eggs out there. Are they edible? I read somewhere that the eggs are small at first, When they all start laying, how long are they good? (No roos).

 

[jimmywalt]

Got my chicks from Tractor Supply in April. This morning there were two small eggs out there. Are they edible? I read somewhere that the eggs are small at first, When they all start laying, how long are they good? (No roos).

We got our 5 hens this March and they have been giving eggs (small ones) for about the last 4 weeks. The eggs get bigger as the hens mature. Yes you can eat the small eggs... you will just have to eat more because they are so small. I thought it would be hard to eat fresh eggs after eating store ones for 40+ years, but after your first bite you will never go back to the store ones! Fresh are so much better. You will also notice that the yolk might be more yellow.

Congrads on your first 2 eggs. How many chickens do you have?

 

[rckirby]

I have 5. Grandaughter can tell them apart and has them all named. I'm glad she was visiting when I lifted up the lid and saw the first eggs! There weren't any today . I guess they're just starting to get ramped up!!

 

[Kaicen]

In response to someone earlier writing about how the eggs come out with stool on them, there are many articles that describe the egg laying process and this is not so.


The hen turns part of the cloaca and the last segment of the oviduct inside out, "like a glove." The described red membrane is then everted inside of these organs. The egg emerges far outside, at the end of the bulge. So it cannot contact the walls of the cloaca and get contaminated by stools or urine. Moreover, the intestine and inner part of the cloaca are kept shut by the emerging egg, and their contents cannot leave when the hen strains to deliver the egg. Therefore, eggs are always clean as they are laid. However, sometimes a hen, stomping around the nest with dirty feet, will get the egg dirty anyway.

 

[Chris King]

Quote:
That was my post, but I did not say that eggs come out with stool on them. I said that they are inevitably coated with faecal bacteria. The shared opening at the back end of the hen is not sterile; it has a normal microbial flora that largely comprises bacteria from the digestive tract (aka faecal bacteria). The egg cannot exit the hen without running the gauntlet of this final portion of the digestive tract.

But don't take my word for it: look at the eggs your hens are laying. Some eggs have a swipe of either poop or the white material that passes for urine in birds, even though there is no chicken manure at all in the nesting box. That material came from the cloaca as the egg was being laid. Also look at the back end of your chickens: they don't always do a good job of wiping their butts.

Sorry to burst any bubbles, but the surface of an egg is not as clean as it might appear.

Even so, that doesn't mean unwashed eggs are unsafe for most people. Households with very young children, elderly people, or immunocompromised people should take extra precautions with eggs, but most of us rub along just fine with eggs straight from the hen's backside. I give my hens' eggs a wipe with a dry paper towel before putting them unwashed in the fridge. I wash only those eggs that have some poop or urate deposits on them, and clean them only as much as needed to remove the surface debris.

Hope that clears up any confusion.

-Chris King-
(veterinarian)

 

[nakedneckmom]

Also just wanted to say :

We get quite a store going as we get 6 per day, and there are only two of us! I usually just force our eggs on parents, friends, co-workers etc lol. But really good to know about the salvation army/food pantry! Do they take them from anyone? Also I can stop making things like deviled eggs en masse - and then forcing those onto people!