When to gather eggs, and cleaning the nest box

[lablover]

My hens have just started laying, so I've kept a close eye on them. I heard their song this morning and went to see if there was an egg. To my surprise, I found 2 and they were still warm. Since the hens were still locked in the coop/run, and went ahead and took the eggs so that they wouldn't get curious and break them. Was it okay to take them right away and refrigerate them? Also, they had a wet spot on them? Should that be cleaned off? I just wiped them with a dry paper towel.

Last night, there was one egg without a shell so I had to clean the soiled hay up. I'm curious to know what you all do with the soiled bedding in the nest box. What do you use to get it out? I have a bale of straw that I will start using, but for convience, where should it be kept? The chickens are far from the house, and closer to the barn. But the barn will soon be overtaken by hay bales. I'm tempted to just get a large garbage can and stick the bale in it to keep it dry and place it near the coop.

 

[mnferalkitty]

It was fine to take them out and put them in the frig, I don't wash my eggs as it takes the protective bloom off, I use a small hand broom and dust pan to scoop out nests. I wouldn't keep the straw outside even in a container moisture will still get in and mold the straw. I have a farms so my straw is in the loft, maybe someone else will have a suggestion for this

 

[FarmGirl01]

You can and should gather eggs often. I'm close to the birds so I check on them thru out the day. Eggs left in the nest can get broken and eaten. A bad habit to stop. The wet spot was the bloom on the egg. It is a special layer of film that is there to naturally protect the egg from absorbing any bacteria. It dries really fast. I never wash eggs and I toss any dirty ones. Some ppl will use sand paper and gently scub off any dried poo or litter. Not a good idea to use water on an egg.
I use pine shaving in the nest box but hay is fine. If you keep it in a container just male sure it stays dry.

 

[karlamaria]

Hay can be smelly fast, I suggest you use sand or pine shavings. The shavings are cheap and work wonderfully. I only use pine shavings.

 

[lablover]

Thanks for responses! So it is okay to put the eggs in the fridge with the bloom still wet? Right now, the box is just an open box. It's big enough for 3 hens to sit in at one time. I'm thinking of buying or making individual little nest boxes to slip in the big box. That way I can take them out and clean or disinfect them.

 

[devora]

The bloom dries in seconds so I doubt it'd make it into your fridge wet. Unless you run very, very fast.

If you don't have mites or mold you don't need to disinfect your boxes. Some folks clean their coops entirely once, maybe twice a year. Some folks, ahem, not. I suppose I'm too busy keeping up w/ their demands for yogurt, rice, and strawberries to clean. And Cinemax, they want that now as well.

When mine break an egg I toss the bedding out and put in some new hay. Done.

A box in a box...Eggception?

 

[Mskayladog]

Why toss a egg that has a bit of poo or litter stuck to it? Why not wash it off before using cracking it to cook?

 

[lablover]

Well, I guess I didn't have enough hay in there last night because the egg without a shell leaked down to the wood bottom of the box. This is the only problem I've found, so maybe with a box in the box (lol) I could take them out and clean the wet spot better. I'm totally new to ALL of this, so I'm just learning.

 

[Mtn Laurel]

My boxes can be lifted right out and the few times there's been a mess in the nesting box I've just pulled it out, dumped the entire contents in the compost, and started over with fresh straw. Right now I'm using sand in the house and straw in the boxes. I'm going to "clean house" when the weather starts to cool down and convert it all over to pine shavings for the winter. That should confuse them for a few days!

The few times I've had poo on an egg, I've removed the spot with a damp paper towel. My eggs are all used within a few days and I've never seen any ill effects from removing that bit of bloom.

 

[FarmGirl01]

Why toss a egg that has a bit of poo or litter stuck to it? Why not wash it off before using cracking it to cook?

I use the dirty eggs in my box traps. It only happens about once a month.