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Comment by aidos | Hacker News Reader

Eggs last quite a long time. Not that it worries me, my hens laid their first egg today! Believe it or not, people in the Uk actually panic purchased chickens this week.

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Yep. In the US, eggs in the refrigerator should be good for 4-5 weeks after the listed expiration date on the package.

Also, those other numbers on the carton can be helpful. There's the packed on date so you can judge freshness.

https://food.unl.edu/cracking-date-code-egg-cartons

https://eggsafety.org/understanding-dates-egg-cartons/

American eggs have a relatively short shelflife. In order to make it look more marketable they wash and bleach the protective coating. A natural egg should be brown but in America they are all white. If you buy your eggs from a farm you're fine to leave it in the pantry. If you buy it from an American supermarket you'll need to keep it in the fridge.

>A natural egg should be brown but in America they are all white.

That is incorrect. Different hens lay different colored eggs.

Yup, can confirm. Our first egg is from our Pheasant Leghorn, which lays white eggs.

Yes. The shell colour is genetic. https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/why_are_chicken_eggs_different...

Also, the thing farmers do have control over is the colour of the yolk.

You can buy Egg Yolk Color Charts: http://www.robotmation.co.jp/keiranycceng.htm

This article talks about it a bit more: http://blog.chickenwaterer.com/2013/03/influencing-egg-yolk-...

Even weirder, if a chicken has white earlobes, it probably lays white eggs. Not always, but mostly (apparently).

It’s actually because American eggs are washed that you have to put them in the fridge.

That is true. Eggshells are fairly porous, otherwise the developing embryo would suffocate. The exterior of the shells are coated with a water soluble film which allows gasses to diffuse through it, but not microbes. When the eggs are washed, this coating is remoevd and shelf life is dramatically reduced. I have kept hens for decades and even done a few tests to confirm.

Any top tips for someone who has just started keeping hens? Had them as a kid but I didn’t have the responsibility, so I didn’t pay much attention.

Just the usual. Make sure they have food, fresh water, grit, calcium and a dust wallow. Sometimes, they can bully each other; I set up coves made from pallets in my chicken pen for them to duck into to avoid line of sight. If you plan to keep roosters, make sure there is plenty of room for them to roam and around five hens each, else they will tend to fight each other. Use square material for the perches, not round. Much easier for them to grip. I ripped 2x4 studs and sanded them smooth. If you can free range the birds, they really like it. Not only will it reduce your garden of weeds and bugs, but they hens lay better.

The washing of American eggs does not affect shelf life. The difference between the European and American approach is just a choice with little to no effect on food safety or shelf life.

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