You can check what it says on the USDA about care and storage. If they don't have anything to help you might want to call you county ag extension service office, someone there should have the info.

Personally I would assume the following; 1) your chickens might be trying to get broody, watch them for mating behavior, and 2) some of the eggs might be fertilized if you see the rooster covering any of the hens.

I understand that you can check on the freshness of the egg by seeing if it floats in a bowl of water. If it does, toss it out. From what I understand as an egg ages the amount of liquid evaporates and is replaced by air and sulphur dioxide (the nasty egg smell you get from rotten eggs). If I have this reversed someone on here will probably catch it.

By the by, I've got some in the fridge that I bought over 10 months ago, I'll see if they are "floaters" yet and let you know which way it goes!

A car?! Is that all? I've got three of them, and one with no engine or transmission! I'm thinking about converting the mini van into either a chicken coop or a barbeque pit.

Kevin

You know, I'd just feed the eggs back to the animals or toss them if you are concerned about it. Break the eggs one at a time into a dish to check for funny smells, etc. first though. :)

You ought to see some of the wierd places MY hens lay away in--! An empty trash can, the BBQ, the rabbit hutch, in a planter filled with gravel and my personal favorite, suspended IN a sage bush! We were foolishly looking UNDER the bush for eggs...

Hens LOVE to feel that they are hiding their nests, especially banties. Clever little snots. Right now they have a sneaky spot on the concrete patio, between a plastic storage tub and a folding plastic table, for cri-yi.

Your girls might be getting the urge to go broody (rooster or no). You can partially solve the 'laying away' problem by making the nest boxes the most attractive place to lay eggs. Hens love dark hidey-hole type nests. I use wooden nest boxes that are enclosed except for the front. I tacked up some black woven plastic groundcloth over the front like a curtain, with a slit cut up the middle of the front of the box opening. Add lots of straw for nest material. The hens love it! :) Good luck with the egg hunt!

Velvet ~:>

A guy I work with had his hens and ducks using the dog house! He said he was amazed that the beagle hadn't hatched out some chicks & ducklings.

Kevin

When I find stray eggs I discard the dirty ones. Then, I bring the clean ones in the house and place them in a bowl of warm water. Use warm water so any impurities remain outside the shell and don't get drawn into the shell.

If they go right to the bottom, they are fresh and we place them with our fresh eggs. If the top end of the egg floats upwards, but the egg remains on the bottom of the bowl, we use the egg for cooking, or something that doesn't require an intact yoke (as the yoke will likely break on this one). If the egg floats on its side (at the surface) we either pitch it, or boil it to feed back to the flock. This seems to work pretty well.

George
Tahlequah, OK

You can also take any questionable eggs, crack them, blender them and use it as a spray to keep deer away from your garden. Strain the liquid first, and maybe add a little water so all the big bits won't clog your sprayer. You won't notice a smell, but the deer don't usually like it and will probably leave your plants alone. Regarding deer, I make NO guarantees!