the eggs from my chickens are rotting

[DSJMHenDen]

I do sanitize mine with a chlorine based solution. I know that's not everyone's cup of tea. I'm a bit of a germaphobe myself, so I read what I could, and decided on what felt best for my family. I'm in the U.S., and the big caveat that I seen with places that wash/don't wash is that those countries who don't wash vaccinate their chickens for salmonella. I rarely have a dirty egg, but it does happen on occasion.

To OP, I'm assuming that you feel most comfortable washing your eggs since you have been. From what I know, make sure your water/solution is warmer than the egg, dry completely, and store in the fridge. You know that your washed eggs are not storing well for 2 to 3 months, so I would only wash what you would use in a shorter amount of time. Little bit of trial and error, and I imagine you will find a system that works well for you. Happy egg eating

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I'm a washer, too. Eggs go straight in the fridge here, unwashed. Mainly because I lack counter space. But before they are eaten, or before they get boxed for sale, they get washed and again refrigerated. My reasoning is the same as yours, in the UK chickens are immunized against salmonella but that is not the case here in the States. Commercial eggs are, guess what? - washed! And I believe they are good for up to three months. If an egg is going to spend its life under a hen, yeah, it definitely needs its protective coating, it's nasty under there. But .. in a clean egg carton in my clean refrigerator? Not so much. It's not being bombarded with all kinds of dangerous bacteria. But hey. I'll do me and you ... do you.

 

[Seaslug]

Like a lot of people who have posted have said, we collect eggs daily and refrigerate them, after giving the dirty ones a brush. I don't think the dirt has much to do with the state of the hen's butts but the state of their feet -- they use the same nest boxes and they do not wipe their feet before they enter the boxes.
We clean the eggs before we crack them. And that is because whatever may be on the outside we do not want to touch the contents of the egg.
I've traveled a little bit and know that American norms are not universal when it comes to food and drink... I have rinsed my hands off in puddles but it would take a lot for me to drink from one!

 

[Tim79]

We store our eggs unwashed on the counter for the most part they last up to 2 weeks this way rarely refrigerate if we do we never wash until we cook .

 

[Altairsky]

I don't think the dirt has much to do with the state of the hen's butts but the state of their feet

I guarantee it can be the state of their butts. I had a hen that smeared the eggs with poop. I noticed she had poop all over her butt. I had to wash her butt. I swear it was the most awkward thing I did to a chicken, especially because she really enjoyed it. Solved the problem though.

I'm in the U.S., and the big caveat that I seen with places that wash/don't wash is that those countries who don't wash vaccinate their chickens for salmonella.

Washing eggs is irrelevant for salmonella. Chickens infected with salmonella has it in their oviduct, and the bacteria is literally embedded in the egg albumen. So if the chicken is infected, it will lay eggs with salmonella already inside it.
See 4:00

Our world, our bodies are covered in bacteria. We have more bacteria than our own cells inside our bodies. 99.9% of bacteria are harmless, and many of them are beneficial, like probiotics.
Probiotic and lactic bacteria inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria.
When an egg is laid, it has the bloom to protect it, but it also has a biofilm of probiotic bacteria from the chicken's gut, most of which are beneficial.
When we wash the eggs, not only we destroy the bloom, but we also disrupt this ecosystem of lactic bacteria and probiotics. When good bacteria are destroyed, we make space for bad bacteria to take over. Washing and disinfecting cause more harm to the good bacteria and very little harm to the bad ones, which can freely reproduce with no more inhibition from the lactic bacteria.
Proof is that washed eggs rot even when refrigerated, unwashed eggs do not rot even at room temperature.
Microscopic ecosystems are extremely important for our health and our environment, unfortunately this theme is not only misunderstood, but almost inconceivable for regular people.
The more sterile we make our environment, the higher are the chances to have an extremely bad bacteria harming us. It's not by chance that the most catastrophic infections happens in the most sterile environments - hospitals -.