Collecting Eggs

You should collect your hens eggs twice each day. The first collection should occur the first thing in the morning. A second gathering should occur around noon or a little earlier. The longer an egg sits in the nest, the greater the risk of you losing it to breakage or whatever. If the weather is extremely hot or cold then the threats of the egg being lost are even greater.

Examine each egg that has been collected. If any of the eggs are cracked or broken shells, then those eggs should not be used for human consumption. Immediately dispose of it. This could mean feeding it to a dog or hog some other useful endeavor.

Prevent your chickens from eating broken eggs. Chickens will eat almost anything. If you feed any eggs to the chickens you have just taught them that eggs are good to eat. They instintively do not eat eggs, but if you teach them that they are good you will have a big issue with your own chickens destoying eggs before you can collect them. Replace any nesting material that has egg yolk on them.

It is very important that you keep yourself clean after collecting the eggs. The eggs could be host to all sorts of bad germs. So wash up after collecting, cleaning and storing your eggs.

Clean off dirt and debris from the eggs as you collect them. Eggs to be kept and not eaten should be cleaned more thoroughly. Be careful to not break the egg, but use whatever force is needed to remove dirt and other contaminants from the shell.

Also be sure to clean anything you used to clean the eggs. Sandpaper, rags etc. should be disinfected to prevent disease.

Washing the eggs is fine, but be sure the water is not colder than the egg itself and never soak the eggs. This could lead to the eggs absorbing water which will lead to their destruction.

Dry the eggs before storage. Eggs should be placed on racks for drying.

Enjoy your eggs!