When to gather eggs, and cleaning the nest box

[CrzyCknLady]

I put vinyl floor tiles in the bottom of my nesting boxes (like the ones you would see on the floor at a hospital or at a school) - they aren't glued down or anything so I can easily lift them out and rinse them off.......I use hay with pine shavings mixed in and my ladies are really happy. I keep a 5 gallon pail of it in my coop (I have a little work area) and I just add more when it needs it. So far, I only have had to clean out one box and that's just because my younger roo was sleeping in it.......bad boy!

 

[lablover]

I put vinyl floor tiles in the bottom of my nesting boxes (like the ones you would see on the floor at a hospital or at a school) - they aren't glued down or anything so I can easily lift them out and rinse them off.......I use hay with pine shavings mixed in and my ladies are really happy. I keep a 5 gallon pail of it in my coop (I have a little work area) and I just add more when it needs it. So far, I only have had to clean out one box and that's just because my younger roo was sleeping in it.......bad boy!

That's a great idea!! Lol about the young roo. Why sleep on the roost when there's a nice comfy bed!?

 

[CarolynF]

My coop has a painted plywood floor covered with and inch or two of sand. The nesting box also has sand with a layer of straw (not hay). It's very easy for me to use a litter-box scoop from the pet store for cleaning. If an egg breaks I discard the hay, wait for the sand to turn the raw egg into a glump and scoop it out while I'm scooping poop. I've never heard of anyone discarding an egg because it's dirty, until I saw the post above. Many people simply wipe them off with a paper towel then wash them just before using. Just remember to use very warm water to wash eggs -- 20 degrees warmer than the egg according to the USDA -- and do it quickly so as not to give bacteria time to move inside the shell. I also know people who wash every egg they gather, paying little attention to any of the rules and they've had no issues at all.

As a newbie, don't get too wrapped up in trying to do everything perfectly. There really is no "perfect". Relax and have fun.

 

[lablover]

Thanks Carolyn!

Just so I'm clear on this... I bring the eggs right in and put them in the fridge. (I know some people leave them out, but I don't) Is it safer to not do anything to them, even before cracking open and eating? My dad thinks it's nasty to put them in the fridge right after they've been in the nasty chicken bedding.

The ones I got today have been in the fridge for a while, and there is still a glossy-wet-looking spot on them.

So no water on the eggs? wet paper towel? Dry paper towel to brush any poo or dirt off?

EDIT, I think my dad washed some of the eggs and then put them in the fridge. Is that okay? Or is it better to wash them (if you're going to) right before using them?

Sorry, I'm so paranoid now.

 

[CatUT]

I use a rubber maid smallish tub in my nesting boxes. I put pine shavings in them and just toss things When it gets kind of yucky. I totally change everything out twice a year. I have a chicken that lays eggs with really thin shells so they break quite often. I just pull out the shavings that are all gooed up with egg and leave the rest in. I do have about 8" of shavings in the tubs.

 

[aggiemae]

I pit a piece of vinyl flooring on the floor of the nest box to make it easier to keep clean. Originally I lined the nest box with pine shavings, but one of the hens is an aggressive nester and scratched half of it out into the sand on the floor of the coop the first time she used it. And other hen was on deck to lay and I didn't want her egg to break so padded the box with bedding made for Guinea pigs because it was what I had handy. It's big soft clumps of brown paper and the hens aren't scratching it out into the coop at all.

If it gets dirty this bedding can go into your compost pile and will break down far more quickly than straw.

 

[karlamaria]

You do not need to wash eggs when you get them, if there is poop on them then by all means I take a paper towel and wash, but the bloom keeps the eggs fresh for much longer. We got three dozen this week alone I want to make sure they last longer in my fridge so no washing of the bloom, it's not going to hurt you lol. I do only use shavings, it's cleaner and easier. I clean the shavings out when they look crumpled or dirty looking. They seem to really stay clean a while.

 

[mickey328]

Perhaps 20% of my eggs have a little bit of poo or straw on them. I can usually scratch it off with a fingernail. Even if I were leery of using them (which I'm not) I'd certainly scramble 'em up and feed them back to the girls or the dogs

Oh, and I gather throughout the day as well. I like to get them out of there as soon as I can. A couple of the girls like to sit with (not on) the eggs, and we did have one that was pecked a little...so I grab 'em up to prevent that.

 

[lablover]

Okay, so I'll just put them straight in the fridge. I do believe the second egg I found did have some poop or straw on it, and I just wiped it off with a dry paper towel before placing in the fridge. So do any of you wash them before eating? This doesn't bother me, I'm just curious if you wash/wipe them at all.

I did read somewhere that the eggs shouldn't be cooled too quickly... Well, I check on the hens a lot, especially because I want to see which one's been laying the eggs, so if I take the egg out while it is still a little warm and put it in the fridge, is that okay? It feels so weird to talk about grabbing an egg that has just come out of a chicken lol.

 

[real_redhead]

Quote:
Well, I don't run in and put them in the fridge always. I only wash when they are dirty (when I am ready to use them). For the old timers on here (not calling anyone old!) but my 86 yr old grandmother's boyfriend (yes boyfriend!!) told me when he was a kid they woulkd store the eggs in the basement or cellar in sawdust! They never put them in any sort of refigerator! My friends in Europe who have chickens do not refrigerate their eggs, they leave them in the counter.