Fresh Eggs are a real treat!! You will never want to eat a store bought egg again. Fresh eggs will last about 6 months in the refrigerator. A fresh egg will be harder to hard boil, because there isn’t much air between the egg and the shell. This makes it difficult to peel after boiling. The eggs we get in the store are usually old to begin with!

The eggs will need to be collected everyday. I actually look forward to it. It is almost like getting a little present everyday!

To wash or not to wash, that is the question. There are a few theories on whether or not you should wash them right after you collect them. Some say that the shells are porous and you push the "germs" into the eggs. Also, there is supposedly a thin protective layer on a fresh egg that keeps it fresher. It is debatable whether or not this makes any difference is keeping eggs fresh. If there is any obvious dirt or manure material on the egg you can scrape it off with a scouring type sponge or wash it off gently.

The chickens will also need adequate calcium in their diets to keep the eggshells thick and strong.

Eggs have an air cell that is the empty space between the white and the shell at the large end of the egg. When an egg is first laid it is warm from the chicken. As it cools, the content contracts and the inner shell membrane separates from the outer hard shell to form the air cell. The air cell is usually what determines the grade of egg and helps determine the freshness of the egg. As an egg ages, more air enters into the cell. A really old egg will float when it is placed in a bowl of water. A fresh egg will sink to the bottom of a bowl of water and lay on its side. An older egg will stand on its end. Eggs usually don’t go bad, they just dry up. You can shake a really old egg and it will rattle!

Another sign of freshness is the condition of the egg white. Egg whites are usually cloudy and thick when they are fresh. They will thin out as they age.

The freshness of eggs depends on the temperature and humidity.

Although the air cell usually forms in the large end of the egg, it occasionally moves freely toward the uppermost point of the egg as the egg is rotated.

You can see the air cell in the flattened end of a peeled, hard-cooked egg.

Eggs are very nutritious despite their bad image of being high in cholesterol. High cholesterol levels have more to do with how your liver is processing and making cholesterol than eating high cholesterol foods. I lowered my cholesterol levels by eliminating gluten and sugar from my diet. Dr. Mercola recommends eating eggs raw for their nutritive values. The dreaded salmonella poisoning is really rare – 1 in 20,000. You can read more about his raw egg eating advice on his website. http://www.mercola.com/2002/nov/13/eggs.htm

There are some interesting facts about eggs on the American Egg Boards website listed in the resource section. There are also some interesting trivia pages listed there.