Collecting eggs from your own chickens is certainly one of the many wonderful reasons to have chickens in your yard. After collecting them, you should take care to store chicken eggs correctly to be sure they will stay fresh and healthy for as long as possible. There is a right way to store the eggs, so I’ll talk about it in this article.
When a hen is about to lay an egg, it goes through several processes before it finally comes out. Every day a chicken egg starts as a yolk, also called an oocyte. It then moves through the oviduct. It takes about 3 hours for the yolk to twirl its way through the oviduct while the albumen is deposited around the yolk, forming the chalazae. Next the egg moves to the uterus where the hard outer layer, the eggshell, is made. This takes about 20 hours to form, and it is a taxing process that requires a lot of calcium to ensure the shell will be hard. Providing calcium supplement like oyster shells is crucial for this stage. You can learn more about nutritional requirements here.
During the last two hours of shell formation the bulk of the pigment (white or brown) is produced and deposited into the outer layers of the shell. This includes the bloom which coats the egg to provide protection against bacteria and loss of water from the egg’s contents. When the hen lays her egg, she stands silent and motionless for a couple minutes to avoid touching the egg she just laid. The egg comes out wet from the protective bloom, which dries quickly. Then she’ll sit on it to rest or leave the egg and go rejoin the flock. After the egg is laid the process starts over again.
In the United States, the commercial egg industry collects hundreds of eggs per day and washes them. This washes away the protective bloom which means the egg will go rotten if not refrigerated.
If the egg is not washed, then the protective bloom stays in place. Most farmers and backyard chicken keepers prefer not to wash their eggs when they collect them. With the protective bloom in place the egg can stay at room temperature safely for a few weeks. We know this because if a hen wanted to hatch chicks, she would sit on the eggs and keep them warm for 21 days until the eggs hatch. The eggs don’t go rotten during this time because of the protective bloom.
Store Chicken Eggs Correctly
Unwashed eggs can stay at room temperature for 2-3 weeks. And they can last 2-3 months in the refrigerator.
Washed eggs must always be refrigerated and can last up to 2 months.
Which End Goes Up?
The larger end, also called the blunt end should be up, and the pointy smaller side down. The reason for this is due to the air pocket that is inside the egg. The air pocket is at the blunt end and needs to stay there to prevent it from coming into contact with the yolk. The air pocket might contaminate the yolk and cause the egg to go bad.
Hopefully you found this article interesting and learned something new.
Happy chicken keeping!
Thanks for the info. Great to know about storage and things.
Thank you for taking the time to read my post. I had fun researching how eggs are made, and I thought it would be fun to share.