Is it ok to float test BEFORE putting a egg in the incubator?

[Kennas_Kritters]

Is it ok to float test eggs before incubating them to tell how old they are or will it wash the bloom away and let bacteria in? I found a nest of duck and chicken eggs that my girls hid from me and I have no clue how long ago they laid them. Can I float test them or is there another way to determine age? I will have to leave them sitting on the counter for about a week before I incubate then due to a hurricane coming.

 

[Yardmom]

Candle the eggs to see how the air cell compared to a fresh egg. The time period for being able to hatch an egg is only a couple weeks. The eggs would be fine for eating much longer than that. Floating the eggs will not help determine if they are hatchable.

 

[Jjynx]

Generally you shouldn’t incubate eggs that are more than 7 days old, I would use those for eating and collect some that you know are fresh for incubating.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Can I float test them or is there another way to determine age?

Just candle with a flash light in a dark room and see how large the air cell is and if there's already development. It's hot in Florida.. ain't it?

Sometimes.. how many eggs there are divided by how many layers and also how often each lay.. is a good indicator of how long it's been there.

If I can't determine safety for eating myself or viability for hatching.. I boil and smash whole or scramble and feed back to the animals.. I also do that with early quitters/non starters for hatching eggs instead of just tossing.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Good luck with the hurricane.

Is it ok to float test eggs before incubating them to tell how old they are

I would not for the reason you stated. It can wash the bloom away.

I'm not sure why you want to incubate these eggs. With all the unknowns I'd think you'd be better off eating the eggs yourself or feeding them back to your flock and saving up eggs specifically for incubating.