Our friends are going on vacation this week and asked if I could come over twice this week and fill up the waterer. I can take all the eggs. MY question is: Will they be safe to eat because the temp. tomorrow (Tues.) is suppose to be 100 and in the upper 90's the rest of the week. I will only be going over there on Wed. and Fri. so they will be sitting out in the heat. How can I tell if they are OK or should I not keep any of them?

This is my first experience taking care of chickens. I want some myself and am looking forward to the experience, however small.

-- Vaughn (vdcjm5@juno.com), August 07, 2000

Answers

I've often wondered that myself. I have a friend who checks her eggs in a container of water. According to her, the good eggs remain at the bottom and the bad eggs float (off the bottom, not to the surface). With that warm of days, that is incubation temps. If she has a rooster, they're gonna start to form. (probably not much in that amount of time) - something to watch - let us know your results

-- Pat (pmikul@pcpros.net), August 07, 2000.

Vaughn, When cooking with eggs, I first break them into a small bowl or cup before I add them to the pan, bowl, mix or whatever. Most of the time they are OK. If there is a bad one in the bunch, I can find it before I ruin the entire recipe.

-- Mona (jascamp@ipa.net), August 08, 2000.

The eggs are going to be OK. Two days or 4 days or a week while occasionally touching temperatures, even for a few hours at a stretch, of 1000 Fahrenheit or so doesn't spoil hen eggs.

Mona, good point. I understand ignoring that precaution is a mistake apprentice chefs don't forget - say the 48th egg in the bowl is the bad one. Breaking the eggs one by one into a small bowl or a cup is a lot easier. Probably always a good idea on a farm, if kids gathering eggs might find a previously hidden nest, and forget to mention it.

Testing eggs in water (ONLY as you're about to use them - the natural coating protects them a little if it's not washed off): if the egg floats on the surface, it's bad - throw it FAR away or discard it GENTLY outside. If it floats within the water, it's no good for you - use it as animal food if your animals aren't proud. If it lies on the bottom, with one end at no more than a 450 angle, then it's relatively fresh - the lower, the fresher, but OK to use as whole eggs (say boiled or fried). If it stands more upright than that, but still touching the bottom with one end, it's OK, but not as fresh - probably best to use as ingredients in, say, cakes.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), August 08, 2000.

So, are the eggs left in the nest only good for up to a week? My neighbor says she leaves hers for 10 or 11 days sometimes. Is temp the main factor for how fast they spoil? The water test method reminds me of a poem (of which I can recall only one line)..."a (something) egg is ten days old, for baking it is solid gold". If I remember the rest I'll post it later. A little ditty to help you remember how to judge egg freshness. BTW, a guy brought me 8 Buff Orpingtons last night, because he "just didn't like them"! All are laying, and one is even setting. Lucky me!

-- Shannon (Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary) (gratacres@aol.com), August 08, 2000.

No, I was just trying to be re-assuring - I'd begin to wonder myself after ten days of century temperatures, but you can test them. They can sit around for thrree weeks, and provided they haven't been sat on 24 hours a day they'll still be OK, and probably fresher than some you'd get in shops. Shannon - lucky you!

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), August 08, 2000.

Wow, was I glad to see this question addressed. I was under the impression that eggs must be gathered daily(product of my raising). I am in process of purchasing a small place of house and two acres and have been presented with a dozen started pullets as a house warming gift. I work three days away from home and had planned to continue this until I got things set up the way I wanted, fencing ,etc. I love this forum! I've been reading it for a while and have been a fan of Counrtyside mag for years!

Jackie

-- Jackie Knight (Jlynne058@cs.com), August 12, 2000.

I second the vote that the eggs will be fine, and that it is a wise cook who always cracks into a teacup. When my resident egg-collecter (age 6) stumbles upon a secret nest of unknown age, she gathers all (two or three dozen eggs) and we bring them in for use. I very very rarely find an egg that is unusable, and when you find one, you'll know it. I would gather with confidence, and always crack into a seperate container first.

-- Rachel (rldk@hotmail.com), August 12, 2000.

You are worried about eggs sitting around for a couple of days in warm temperatures? You must not have ever watched any news shows like 20/20 that show how long the big egg companies let their eggs sit around in un-cooled rooms or even stores for that matter. Or how the big egg companies get returns back from stores that have expired and repackage them in new containers. I'll take my freshly laid, chemical free egg from home anytime even if it has been in warmer temperatures for a couple of days!!!!!

-- Michael W. Smith (kirklbb@penn.com), August 13, 2000.