Will my eggs still be eatable?

[bigspringshatchery]

I'm leaving Thursday morning going to the Bahamas and I'm gonna have four days worth eggs jus sittin in the nesting boxes if they don't get broke and ate? So my question is when I return home late Monday will the eggs be good or do I his need to toss to be safe. My aunt is gonna be watching my animals but won't touch my chickens. So there's no one to collect the eggs.

 

[ScoobyRoo]

I personally wouldn't eat them. If you have a roo and chances are that they would be fertile......the earlier ones could start to develope (meaning the bulls eye will be getting bigger) if there are hens laying all day and sitting on the same nest. If it were me, I would crack them open, then cook and give them to the dogs, cats and chickens. I have let them go a day and the bulls eye was huge on all the eggs that were in the nest for just over 24 hours. Good luck.
btw, have fun on your vacation.

 

[girlychick]

Quote:
There is a way to test the eggs
Gently put one at a time in a bowl of water(I don't think the temp matters)
If it floats then its bad
If it sinks then its good to eat!

Good luck!

 

[Matt A NC]

4 days is nothing. The eggs will be perfectly fine.

Matt

 

[bigspringshatchery]

Ok that's what I was thinking. Yea I gotta roo and didn't wanna sell someone some eggs and they crackem open and find something like that.

Thanks. Ready for a long needed break but I'll be ready to be home on Monday. I should have nine new born turkeys in the bator.

 

[ScoobyRoo]

Quote:
There is a way to test the eggs
Gently put one at a time in a bowl of water(I don't think the temp matters)
If it floats then its bad
If it sinks then its good to eat!

Good luck!

His eggs would still be fresh even after 4 days so I wouldn't think this test would work. It is the heat and the fertilization starting that would have me tossing them out or feeding them back to the animals.

 

[Caincando1]

I just went through this. We left on the Wednesday(last collected Tuesday) and returned Sunday and collected eggs. I had about 15 eggs from 4 hens. They all lay in the same nest. I retuned to a broody hen, so I’m not sure how long she sat on them. I fed them all to the dogs because I didn’t know which ones started to develop. About 4 or 5 of them had started to develop and you could see the blood and red where things where starting to develop. I personally don’t eat my eggs if they have been sat on more than a two days. I have plenty of dogs that like them no matter what.

 

[reesepoultry]

I wouldn't eat them. It depends if it's in the 90's I had eggs outside in my barn trying to get someone to go broody and they didn't but the temps were in the 90's and I put them in my bator. They weren't supposed to hatch until The 21st of this month. They have started hatching since yesterday. They incubated there self in my barn because of the tempartures. So I would not eat them.

Michelle

 

[Happy Chooks]

I was gone 4 days, and just the hens moving in and out to lay caused them to begin developing. I scrambled them and fed them to the chickens. If it's hot where you are, I wouldn't chance it.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I'm in sultry South Florida. I've found eggs in hidden nests that were perfectly fine after who knows how long they've been in there. But I wouldn't sell them to anyone, not unless they were extremely understanding about the variable nature of backyard eggs and I told them first. But after only 4 days your eggs should be fine for your own table.

I think it's a good idea, even with store-bought eggs, to first crack them into a small dish before adding them to the pan or mixing bowl. There could always be surprises inside, or at least broken eggshell to fish out. Unless you had a broody hen setting constantly on those eggs, they shouldn't develop just from the laying hens setting briefly on them. The bullseyes may be a bit bigger or more noticeable, but there shouldn't be any veining or embryonic development.

Check them out when you get back & let us know what you find. In my home good food always goes to the humans first, if unsuitable then to the animals, and finally to the compost pile. You could also put those eggs into the blender, shell & all, mix them and scramble them for your chickens, they'll benefit from the calcium in the eggshell.