Ugh... Frozen Exploded Eggs

[LateBirdFarms]

So... it's been somewhat chillier over the past week, and I've been behind schedule collecting my eggs during the day. Did you know.... at -25c/-13f eggs freeze, expand and the shell cracks to let that sticky messy egg slushy goo gather in your nest boxes if your not prompt at retrieving them?

Moral of the story.... Don't be late for egg collecting in frigid weather!

 

[cavemanrich]

It is sad to loose eggs, but did want to add this little idea. If you get to your eggs too late, then they are not for human consumption at that stage. Take them out still, and boil them up for your chickens to eat. It is like egg recycling in a sense.
I do this if I find an egg with a small crack in shell regardless of season.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[My2butterflies]

Or feed them to other pets. My dogs go crazy for eggs. They get any eggs that have dirty shells, cracks, or freeze.
last year it was nearly impossible to collect eggs before they’d freeze when the temps were -20+F
Thankfully this winter has been very mild compared to recent years.

 

[thelittlegraybarn]

It's safe to say this happens at a temperature of 18 degrees also #winterchickenproblems

 

[Callender Girl]

I'm pretty diligent about checking for eggs every hour or so when there's the possibility that they will freeze. Most of my girls take a winter break, so I've only been checking nest boxes in two of the coops -- a mistake on my part since somebody in a third coop had a frozen surprise for me yesterday.

At least she laid it right on the floor, in front of the door. Perhaps her way of pointing out that I need to do my job a little bit better?

 

[Mtnboomer]

I pull eggs every night during close up but even so I have had a few fozen ones too when daytime temps stay in the teens and 20s. I usually just add them to the garden.
A cracked shell isn't necessarily "bad." So long as the membrane hasn't ruptured its usually still safe to eat if collected soon after laying and is consumed quickly (dont let it sit in fridge for 3 wks). If its cracked AND leaking, definitely toss it.
If i find an edible cracked egg, i usually eat it at the next meal.

 

[MissMonty]

Between my kids and winter I lose so many eggs haha! My dogs happily eat any of the cracked ones for us I just toss them in the yard and they go to town!

 

[DobieLover]

So... it's been somewhat chillier over the past week, and I've been behind schedule collecting my eggs during the day. Did you know.... at -25c/-13f eggs freeze, expand and the shell cracks to let that sticky messy egg slushy goo gather in your nest boxes if your not prompt at retrieving them?

Moral of the story.... Don't be late for egg collecting in frigid weather!

I use seedling heat mats under the nesting material in my nest boxes. The mats are plugged into a switch controlled receptacle bank but you can also use a thermocube. I got the idea from this article.
It's never gotten to -13F during the day here, thankfully, but it has stayed 12F and below all day and I've collected eggs when I got home from work at 7 and none were frozen.

 

[LateBirdFarms]

I use seedling heat mats under the nesting material in my nest boxes. The mats are plugged into a switch controlled receptacle bank but you can also use a thermocube. I got the idea from this article.
It's never gotten to -13F during the day here, thankfully, but it has stayed 12F and below all day and I've collected eggs when I got home from work at 7 and none were frozen.

Brilliant! This year has been surprisingly mild for us northerners, except for this past week, and I always seem to forget about the frozen egg mess EVERY frikkin year until I have to tidy up the results, but I am absolutely running out to TSC for some seedling mats. I picked up a nifty temperature controlled outlet extension for my waterers that would work beautifully for this!

 

[LateBirdFarms]

I pull eggs every night during close up but even so I have had a few fozen ones too when daytime temps stay in the teens and 20s. I usually just add them to the garden.
A cracked shell isn't necessarily "bad." So long as the membrane hasn't ruptured its usually still safe to eat if collected soon after laying and is consumed quickly (dont let it sit in fridge for 3 wks). If its cracked AND leaking, definitely toss it.
If i find an edible cracked egg, i usually eat it at the next meal.

My frozen ones usually go into my baking, as long as they haven't burst. Personally... I don't know if its just me or what, but I keep hearing frozen eggs aren't suitable for eating because of a change in texture, but I've never been able to pinpoint a large enough difference between them to stop me from scrambling them up. Maybe mine aren't frozen long enough to make that difference? The cracked ones get tossed to the dogs, keeps everyone shiney and soft, not to mention happy!