Unwashed Eggs sitting out issue

[Br2013]

I recently had a few dozen eggs go bad. They were all laid within a week of each other and by day 9/10 they were bad. Some yolks were busted as I cracked, some had formation, and others smelled. My only thought is: it is getting warmer here so they were out in the coop a day or two at max. When I brought them in I put them in cartons. I set the cartons on top of each other beside my stove, which I just realized the oven vent is on the same side.

Could that have been the culprit? Any other ideas as to how? Where do you store your eggs after gathering?

 

[C Siena]

I recently had a few dozen eggs go bad. They were all laid within a week of each other and by day 9/10 they were bad. Some yolks were busted as I cracked, some had formation, and others smelled. My only thought is: it is getting warmer here so they were out in the coop a day or two at max. When I brought them in I put them in cartons. I set the cartons on top of each other beside my stove, which I just realized the oven vent is on the same side.

Could that have been the culprit? Any other ideas as to how? Where do you store your eggs after gathering?

We store ours on a shelf in the kitchen, covered with a towel due to sunshine a few hours a day. We are moving them to the lower shelf, so no sun. Usually have about 8-9 dozen a week and no problems. We have even eaten eggs 3 weeks old w/o problems and no refrigeration.

I gather 3 times a day, more in winter when below freezing.

Does an oven vent give off heat? If so, that might be a problem.

 

[WingItRanch]

Yes. The heat of being in the coop for longer than a day and then sitting on the counter next to the oven would definitely cause the eggs to go bad. It's hot here already so I try to collect throughout the day so the eggs aren't sitting in the coop longer than a few hours.

 

[Ridgerunner]

A hen can lay eggs in a nest for two weeks and then incubate them at incubation temperature for three weeks without them going bad. I don't think heat is the root cause but it may be a contributing factor.

For an egg to stink bacteria has to get inside. When a hen lays an egg she puts a layer we call "bloom" on it that is a very effective barrier to keep bacteria out. If the bloom is compromised bacteria can enter. It may be compromised by being washed off, scratched off, or if the egg is fairly dirty. Bacteria multiply a lot faster if it is warmer rather than cooler, that's why heat may be a contributing factor.

If the egg is kept warm it can start to develop if it is fertile. You can generally see that as blood vessels forming. They are usually a lot more spread out than what I see in that photo but maybe they are just starting to develop?

Sometimes you can get meat spots in an egg. That's where material sloughs off of organs or parts in the hen's body cavity and get included in making the egg. I think there is some of that in that photo. Meat spots don't cause an egg to go bad as they are not bacteria but they are unappetizing.

I think that green is from bacteria getting inside and multiplying. The smell should have been pretty bad.

I store unwashed but clean eggs on my kitchen counter, sometimes for a month before I use them. If an egg is dirty I wash it and put it in the refrigerator. It is cold enough in there to stop the bacteria from multiplying if any bacteria got inside to start with. These are my priority to eat.