Another Laying Hen Question

[curtintex]

My wife likes to let her hens roam around. Well, before we left to go out of town I was putting them in their coup and couldn't find one. After searching everywhere, I found her behind a stack of cattle panels.....sitting on 10 eggs. I have no idea how long these eggs had been laid, but somewhere between 1 and 8 days. There is zero chance of them have a chick inside, but my question is "are these eggs any good"? Obviously some are older than others, but there is no way to tell which are recent and which are not. It had been warm but they were in a very shaded area. What say the GS?

[Passthrough]

How you know she didn't have a boyfriend somewhere. Lots of women claim to don't know how they got pregnant
And chunk the eggs by the way!!

[jdcolada]

Probably no good. Or try and candle them to look inside them. Or crack some open. Or throw em out and let her lay more would be the easiest option. I've had chickens and use to put a light in the pen and for some reason they lay more often. Some one told me it was because they think it's daytime all the time.

[Bilbo]

I don't take chances when I find them outside the coop. Just not worth messing with. Try using some fake eggs in your nesting boxes to get them in the habit of laying there instead of elsewhere.

[huntresss]

I've had a couple of egg bombs explode on me when I picked them up, and I don't gag at much, but that green rotten egg goo exploding and getting into every orifice on my face taught me a lesson I will never forget. Don't even mess with them if they've been out in the heat for that long! Potential egg bomb hazard!

[bowhunterchris]

Fill a glass of water halfway full. Put eggs in one at a time. If it completely sinks they are fresh. If they sink but "stand up" they are not fresh but good to eat. If they float crack them and keep the shells and throw the shells in the coop. Throw away the inerds. That's how we do it.

[Erin]

omelets for fathers day.

[18ncs]

omelets for fathers day.

Have big get together for breakfast. Just remember to label your baskets..."eggs for Curt" and "eggs for others"

Think about it this way you are well along the way to having some Century Old Eggs which are delicacies.

[ame="http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LoIUCdsJi_w&feature=related"]Eating a preserved duck egg (century egg). - YouTube[/ame]

[tex4k]

They are perfectly good, if your needed some bait to trap the coons from around your feeders.

[cwill]

Fill a glass of water halfway full. Put eggs in one at a time. If it completely sinks they are fresh. If they sink but "stand up" they are not fresh but good to eat. If they float crack them and keep the shells and throw the shells in the coop. Throw away the inerds. That's how we do it.

X2

[miket]

I know a lot of people say that eggs go bad quick but I've had chickens for years and years and they last WEEKS even in the heat. Think about this, it will take her WELL over a week to lay a clutch to hatch and they all stay good viable eggs ( assuming they are fertilized, I know yours arent ). There have been many times that I only picked up my eggs out of the chicken pen once a week and have never had a bad one ( unless it was cracked ). As far as outside of the pen, I usually dont save the ones that I discover in hidden places because they could be months old. In your case, if you are sure they are only a max of eight days old I would be very surprised if any were bad.