I read somewhere that the people oiled the eggs after they cleaned them. Is this advisable? Most of our eggs get pretty messed up because the hens and roosters "roost" on the edges of the nest boxes. This leaves lots of you-know-what in the boxes, and thus gets all over the eggs. We gather as often as we can, but still need to wash eggs before we can store them. We also try to change the hay in the boxes often.

Anyway, because of the mess, we have to wash the eggs, and I was wondering if putting a little layer of olive oil or some kind of oil on them would help in the same way that the original protective coating did. Anyone know?

Thanx in advance. Ally

-- Ally (like2read@bigfoot.com), February 16, 2000

Answers

The only time I remember hearing of oiling eggs was for long term storage. People used to oil them so that they wouldn't dry out. After oiling, they stored them in sawdust or in bran. I would think that if you intended to use them right away it wouldn't be necessary. You should do something to keep the chickens off the tops of the nest boxes. I have read that if the egg has too much soil on it, it should be discarded as it might be contaminated through the shell. I don't mean to be critical, just wondered if you knew.

-- Green (ratdogs10@yahoo.com), February 16, 2000.

Ally, like you, we hae to wash most of our eggs. Never oil them. Just give them a bit of a scrub under cool water and let them air dry. Before we put them in cartons, we like to pencil the date on them just to keep track of the eggs. We just fried up a bunch of eggs from September and October for the cats. Felt that was getting a bit old for us, but the cats were pleased. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), February 16, 2000.

Maybe you could cover the nest-boxes with a flap of netting or plastic or cloth or something in the evening, and hook it up out of the way during the day. Minor chore for a while, but they should get in the habit of using their proper roosts after a few months.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), February 16, 2000.

Gerbil has good advice (by the way Gerbil, where ARE you? e-mail directly, please). First - it's OK to wash eggs, despite some advice to the contrary. It's not OK to wash them if you plan to hatch them. In that case, a simple swipe with a damp cloth is appropriate, but do not immerse them or use soap. For eating eggs, go ahead and wash. They will have slightly less viability over a LONG term, but who wants bolutes anyway? To the crux of the matter. First, hay is a very poor nesting material, as all chickens, (except free range chickens, and they will behave only in the summer), will pull the hay out of the nest and eat most of it. Much better to use wood shavings in the nest, and I use it on the floor as well. Pretty cheap, and can be free if there's a sawmill nearby. Smaller mills will trade the shavings for some eggs. Secondly, if you provide a good roost for your chickens, say a 1 to 1 1/2 inch diameter sapling, they will prefer it to setting on the edges of the nest. Put the roost higher than the nest edge, and if that isn't enough, cover the nest edge for a few days until they get used to the roost you want them to use. Have fun and Good Luck! Brad

-- Brad (homefixer@mix-net.net), February 17, 2000.

Wow, guys, thanks for all the answers. It had been too many years since I'd had chickens. We sell some of our eggs, and I was concerned about the looks of them. We try to save the stained ones for ourselves

To Green, No offence taken. I too had wondered about contamination or at the least, what customers would say.

To Gerbil, is pencil safe? I know they don't make them out of lead any more, but do you make sure the "lead" is graphite? And even if it is, is graphite safe? Our doggies like the leftovers too. 8^)

To Don, that is an excellent idea. It may work. We still need to allow the girls to get in the boxes but I think it would be ok to keep them out at night. It really urks me when the roosters roost in there.

To Brad, Do you mean you sometimes use soap to wash your eggs? Umm, it really doesn't bother me if they eat the hay, at least in the winter. We can always add more. OTOH, we have some old wood chips composting nearby (some of the chips are from walnut) Would composted or partly composted chips be ok? I bring up the fact that some are walnut, because walnut can really bother some animals, like horses.

Thank you all for the answers, and for the food for thought. And of course, most of the food for thought around here is EGGS!!

Best regards, Ally

BTW - does anyone know of the life expectancy of stored eggs? What is a safe length of time to store them especially if we are selling them?

-- Ally (Like2Read@bigfoot.com), February 19, 2000.

i have heard more than once that commercial eggs are considered fresh up to 40 weeks in the system.i chose my breeds of hens for their known laying ability. i live in new hampshire( it's cold), have 11 hens(black astrolopes, buff rocks, silver laced) and get on average, 8 eggs a day.started them from day old chicks in may. need eggs? got lots. laura

-- laura cavallari (ladygoat13@aol.com), February 20, 2000.

Thank you all for your answers. We've really been enjoying our chickens. I've learned a lot from this discussion forum and would like to thank the moderators and webpeople.

Ally

-- Ally (Like2Read@bigfoot.com), March 18, 2000.

I just wanted to add a note about extra eggs. Our vet told us that eggs should always be whipped up or cooked before feeding to the dogs. Something in them causes a serious vitamin deficiency in dogs if they are fed just cracked and raw.

-- Peg (jnjohnsn@pressenter.com), March 18, 2000.