Is my pekin bantam male or female?

[Doody]

Hi,

 

Hi everyone, very very new here, and only had my chickens 3 days now, but loving it.

 

Anyway, my hens are doing me proud, only had them 3 days and already have 5 eggs. Missed out on Mondays eggs as i didnt collect them till 5 in the evening, and all my girls have laid there eggs by 2pm. (Yep ive been watching a routine start lol)

 

Now although i love my girls, they dont seem to be putting a lion stamp on the egg, along with a use by date. So ermmmm, could anybody tell me how long before the egg isnt suitable for eating. I would probably get rid of them after 10 days if they hadnt been eaten, but to be honest, so far the eggs havent lasted longer than 4hrs before being eaten lol....

 

Many thanks...

 

Mark

[abwsco]

Hi Mark

 

Store them out of the fridge and they will last for four weeks

[Bertrum]

To test for freshness simply put them in water. They should sink and lie on the side if they are fresh, sink but stand on end if a few weeks old, and float if they are too far gone to eat.

[Doody]

Thank you, much appreciated.

[figarogir1]

The eggs you buy on the shops are probably already older than 10 days before you get them to be honest mine are never around long I always find a use for them!

[midori]

Eggs seem to last forever. I have had shop bought ones before that have been fine well past their use by date. (couple of weeks after). We didn't used to eat anywhere near as many eggs, but do now they are much nicer and 'free' so to speak. It has started me baking again, which the children love!

[Mercedes55]

We are still eating our way though some shop bought eggs in our fridge that have a sell by date of 22 June on them

 

We've been trying to eat these before our own hen's eggs and I have been putting them into a jug of water to make sure they are okay before using them and all of them have been fine

[tom123]

Remember though, that if you wash an egg then the life of it decreases rapidly as a protective coat is put onto the egg just before it is laid to keep bacteria out. Wash the egg and the protective coat is washed off thus allowing bacteria to pass into the egg. If an egg is dirty, don't wash it until you are just about to use it

[migsy]

Another way of telling freshness is after you have cracked it (sounds obvious). As an egg gets older, the contents get thinner, so the yolk of an old egg will break easily. The less fresh the egg is, the more it will spread out.

[Olly]

If you want to make meringues or hard-boiled eggs, then save some of the older eggs. New-laid eggs are hopeless for meringues, the whites don't whisk properly and they are also much harder to peel if you are hard-boiling them.

[primrose222]

I know this is the obvious thing to do but we just put the date that the eggs were layed on the egg .Then put them on the egg skelter which keeps them in freshness order fresh at the back at old at the front .

[Charlottechicken]

I write the date on the eggs each day in pencil, then use them earliest first. I also don't wash them.

 

I don't put eggs in the fridge unless they are hard boiled and they keep just fine for several weeks (but that's another debate!).