curious how long eggs can stay in the nest before they go bad
I only get to gather once a day, winter doesn't bother me too much 40-50 deg during the day. but the summer months worries me. 100-110 deg for days at a time. i gather at night so if they lay right after i pick up eggs could lay in nest all day in the heat.

thanks for the help love the site

Jefftx, Eggs come in wonderful containers that protect them well. How long? Well, certainly no worry for all of one day or actually for some time longer. Won't really "go bad", but will lose "freshness". Will it hatch? Probably. After all, chickens don't collect their eggs at all, and the eggs hatch, if they set! CJR

Jeff,

Gathering eggs once a day is fine. You won't encounter any problems at all, even in summer.

Not that I'm recommending this at all, but you know what people did with eggs a long time ago? They gathered them and kept them on their porch or on top of the ice box. They didn't get refrigerated! Learning that made me feel more comfortable about mine sitting there for several hours before going in the fridge.

The only time I dump eggs is if we have been on vacation for a few days and it is summer. If we've been gone a few days in winter, we still eat the eggs.

Susie

I agee with Susie and her last paragraph. That's what we do.

Hi Jeff, I've been known to leave eggs in my kitchen at room temps for a week and then eat, with no refrigeration! I've never had a problem doing that either.

I may leave eggs I want to hatch for two weeks unrefrigerated. I've left eggs for longer than that and then cooked them for my dogs or for the chickens and they were just fine.

I do bring them in the house though, I don't leave them outside. I too collect once a day, the birds usually lay in the morning anyway.

I gather my eggs once a day (when I feed my hens at night). I've had no problems yet. Refrigerated eggs can be kept for about 6 months, or so I heard, but why would you want to keep them that long? The whole reason for raising chickens (or at least one of them) is for FRESH eggs. Eggs also store well if you keep them in water glass.

i agree with most info above on gathering eggs. it would seem better to refridgerate as soon as possible, my reasoning is if any had unseen cracks, bacteria could enter and if not chilled ,would have better conditions for growth, thus causing illness. ?

If an egg is cracked, it is safe to eat as long as the membrane is not cracked and it is consumed within a couple of days. If you see any yolk leaking out then throw the egg away immediately.

Robbpa,

An egg shell is porous, so bacteria could enter anyway. However, that membrane inside is supposed to be an incredible package. You can even eat "soft-shelled eggs" which are eggs that have no shell -- sometimes pullets or older layers will lay them.

Also, commercial eggs are not refrigerated immediately either. I'm sure our eggs are much healthier and cleaner than those operations.

Susie

We are so used to "fresh" foods, we forget that the early inhabitants of seacoasts where seabirds nest by to 1000s used to (and probably still do) collect eggs from the nests as a special part of their food supply. These eggs were eaten with no thought of age or temperature. The important thing is that eggs of questionable age should always be well cooked (as should store eggs). Mind you a rotten egg smells pretty ghastly, but it you crack an egg and find the yolk round and standing, not to worry, just boil or fry it, or use it in baking. Of course refrigerated is best. CJR

When an egg is laid, the hen coats it with a special, natural "chemical" that helps inhibit bacterial growth. Also, when you wash an egg before consumption you're supposed to use water that is slightly warmer than the egg. The reason for this is that it helps to keep the egg's interior from contracting and drawing bacteria from the shell into the inside of the egg.

Hi Josh, I've read that "chemical" is called the "bloom."