How To Test Eggs For Freshness

The other day I cracked open an egg and was immediately greeted with a revolting stench and horrible, brown nasty pouring out of the egg - I couldn't get it out of the house fast enough!
EEWWW! What happened?

Chickens have "community nests" in which several hens will lay their eggs in the same nest each day - one after the other.  In bygone days, at a certain point, when the number of eggs in the nest was right - usually 8-10 as long as she can keep them all under her, one hen would begin to sit those eggs.  Unfortunately, because most chicks are hatched in incubators nowadays, hens have lost their inclination to sit on and hatch their own eggs. On our farm we rarely have a "broody hen" - one who wants to sit her eggs. It takes exactly 21 days for a chicken egg to hatch, and I have had a hen sit a nest for 18 days and then lose all interest and walk away.

I gather eggs everyday and always leave one egg on each nest - "seed eggs" I call them, because it seems to me that when I continually empty their nests of eggs day after day, they decide to find another place to lay. Remember, our chickens are "free-range" which means that they have 40 acres in which to lay their eggs! They can be quite clever in finding places to hide their eggs, and sometimes it takes us awhile to find the new nests. As a matter of fact, Bob just found a large clutch of eggs this morning under the bush hog!

And then ANOTHER under a planting container!



When we find a hidden clutch there's no way of knowing how long they have been there - so, how can I tell if these eggs are fresh?

Here's how:
When an egg is first laid it has a very small air pocket at the large end. As the egg ages, because the shell is porous, moisture escapes enlarging the size of the air pocket causing the egg to become more buoyant. The older it is, the more an egg will float.

* Fill a pot with approx 3 inches of water and place your egg(s) in the water 2 or three at a time.

*  The white egg on the left is freshest - under 1 week old. It will lay flat on the bottom of the pot.
*  An egg that is between 1 and 2 weeks old will begin to bob and float at a 45 degree angle. (the middle egg)
*  At 2 weeks old and egg will stand. (right)
All these are suitable for eating.

** If an egg completely floats carefully dispose of it!

For the Love of... EGGS!

It is officially spring on the farm. I know that, not because baby goats are being born or everything is in bloom or our honeybees are rockin', but because the hens are laying again!

During the winter, egg production drops way down because hens require 14 hours of light to maintain egg production. We choose not to stimulate our chickens to lay by using artificial light, so  from November until early March, fresh eggs become scarce. During the spring and summer we have an abundance of  fresh, natural,  free range eggs - so much so that we are able to sell the excess. As a matter of fact, the chickens are the only animal on our farm that actually pay for their own feed.
A hen will start laying eggs at about 6 months of age. The eggs will be small at first, and she will lay an average of  5 eggs per week. Production is highest during her first two years and then tapers off. By 4-5 years old she will lay very few eggs.

Nutritionally, farm eggs are far superior to commercially produced, store bought eggs. Eggs provide the highest quality protein found in any food because they provide all of the essential amino acids our bodies need in a near-perfect pattern.
According to nutrient tests conducted by Mother Earth News comparing pasture raised hens to factory egg layers, it has been determined that free range farm eggs contain:

• 1⁄3 less cholesterol
• 1⁄4 less saturated fat
• 2⁄3 more vitamin A
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene

These studies also indicate that farm eggs contain between 4 - 6 times as much Vitamin D as store bought eggs.

We believe that eggs raised in natural conditions are the perfect whole food, therefore our chicken roam free - we coop them only at night for protection from predators.
I'll be talking more about the merits of chickens and the things we've learned along the way in future posts, but in the meantime I'll leave you with this - I saw it yesterday and I just had to stop everything and make these!

HAPPY SPRING!