What temperature are your eggs stored at?

I keep my eggs in the laundry room. It's a cool but not-bright place. The only light comes from a glass block window so what light comes in is diffused. I like to keep the eggs on top of the dryer except when summer hits. I have a lot of eggs when the hens are in full production though, so they just don't fit on the dryer anymore!

When the Guineas start laying I have way too many eggs for one dryer top and they often get collected in the basket and set on the floor overnight. (not the best practice, but it's often just for a day till they can get sorted) Baskets are top heavy and always get left on the floor around here so they don't get knocked over as easily. 

I never really gave much thought to temperature variances in the room...after all, it's not a very big room and it all feels the same to me. I got the idea to actually check the surface temperatures using Mr Roboto's handheld Fluke thermometer. 

First I glanced at the wall thermometer which read 68.2° F. Not ideal, but it's not a hot day so the back door is open, so that's expected. First I checked the eggs on the dryer top and they registers at 68.0°F. Next I checked the eggs in the basket...

The eggs in the basket were 63.5°F, this was sitting on the floor. 4.5°F is not exactly a small difference! We discussed Handling Hatching Eggs in a previous post and if you recall they are to be kept at between 55-65° F. In this one room alone, the eggs are almost 5° F difference just because they are on different surfaces.

The point I want to make here though is that the dryer top is only 3 feet off the ground, and yet the temperature of the eggs is varied by 4.5°F. This is not a problem really unless you are storing hatching eggs in which case being store at the wrong temperature will negatively effect viability.

Now I don't expect anyone to run right out and buy a temperature gun or any of the other crazy tools Mr Roboto seems to love....I just wanted to point out the differences in storage temperature in one small room. 

You can most likely get the same readings by letting a digital thermometer rest in each area for several hours. This is an excellent idea if you have any doubts as to whether the storage temperature is correct or not. 

Which is exactly what I should have done....but then I wouldn't have gotten to play with this cool toy!

~L

Want information on raising chickens sent right to your email weekly? Click right here to join my list and get new posts sent directly to you the day they're published. You'll also get the free download 25 Ways to save money raising chickens.

This post contains affiliate links. If you chose to purchase something through the link, I will get a small payment from Amazon. It will not affect your purchase price. Click for full disclosure.