Quail eggs shelf life

Everyone has long known that quail eggs are a product that is not only tasty, but also rich in nutrients. They occupy a leading place in terms of the content of useful vitamins. The risk of contracting salmonellosis or other diseases from such a product is practically zero. The shelf life is radically different, for example, from chicken eggs. The shelf life of quail is much longer. How to preserve such a useful product at home?

Storing quail eggs at home

There are two known ways to keep this natural product fresh:

at room temperature;
in a refrigerator.

Experienced housewives prefer refrigerated storage, since in this case the time period increases to two months.

When storing quail eggs in refrigeration, it is best to place them in plastic or cardboard packaging and place them with the sharp end down, this reduces the risk of breaking the egg. It is important to remember that during refrigerated storage you should not keep meat products, fish and other products with a strong smell nearby. You should also remember that quail eggs must be washed under the tap before cooking, and not before storing. In this way, you preserve an important layer on the surface of the shell and increase shelf life. It is strictly not recommended to store eggs in the refrigerator on the doors. This is due to the fact that when constantly opened, the temperature in the refrigerator itself changes and, accordingly, the shelf life is significantly reduced.

When stored outside the refrigerator. In fact, quail eggs have a huge advantage in that they have a long shelf life at a temperature of 24 degrees. Some people at home place quail eggs in a large bowl of water and cover with salt (proportion: 1 tablespoon of salt per 1 liter of water). If any eggs float to the top after immersion, they should be disposed of immediately, as this is the first sign of a spoiled product. On farms with a large volume of refrigerators, there are not enough refrigerators, and farmers have to use the old proven recipe - the product is coated with fat. This can be either pork fat or sunflower oil, after which the eggs are immersed in cardboard boxes with ventilation holes. It is very important that the eggs do not touch each other. At the bottom of such a box there must be some kind of soft layer, which will “save” the egg shells from possible impacts. For example:

sand;
hay;
ash;
shavings;
paper.

The second method, which makes it possible to increase the shelf life to one year, is extremely rarely used in everyday life due to its unique method. The eggs are placed carefully in a glass container; if desired, you can use porcelain or ceramic dishes so that they do not touch each other, and the container is filled with ready-made slaked lime. Lime should be diluted in a ratio of 1 to 5. When stored in this way, slaked lime should completely cover the eggs with a margin of 2-3 centimeters, and be stored in a basement or barn with a temperature no higher than 10 degrees and no lower than zero.

quail eggs for potency: how to take

Storage rules

Storage: in the refrigerator or indoors? Usually people don't ask this question and simply put store-bought trays into a container in the refrigerator. Storing eggs in the cold prolongs their freshness , but at the same time dries them out and reduces the amount of nutrients .

British scientists from the Food Testing Laboratory conducted an experiment and found that the number of bacteria in eggs stored without refrigeration for two weeks did not exceed the same indicator in a product from the refrigerator. Therefore, it is better to go to the store more often and buy small packages that will be stored indoors and remain nutritious and healthy for longer.

How long does it last when cooked?

Boiled eggs are considered the healthiest and tastiest. How long can the prepared product be stored? It is very important for egg lovers not to forget that the shelf life is not long.

Firstly, storing a boiled egg is allowed only in cases where it is hard-boiled (that is, without a runny yolk).
Secondly, after cooking, you need to wrap the egg in newspaper or paper. This way you will save it from impacts and destruction of the shell.
Thirdly, a boiled egg at room temperature should be stored for no more than 9-10 hours.
When stored in the refrigerator - usually no more than 7 days (if the product was fresh and the shell was intact and not damaged).
If the top shell is damaged, the shelf life is reduced to two to three days.

Shelf life of boiled eggs

Boiled eggs are the most common food that people take with them on a long trip or to work. Often, when getting a child ready for school, parents put just such a snack in his lunchbox. And those who like to soak up the sun on the beach often treat themselves to just such a lunch: a boiled egg with a fresh cucumber will be appreciated by many gourmets.

By eating such food in the first hours after its preparation, people act wisely. After all, being in the heat and without a refrigerator, after just a few hours a boiled egg turns into poison. But not all people fully know how long quail eggs can be stored in a boiled state.

According to the well-known law, heat-treated products are preserved longer than in their raw form. With quail eggs, the opposite happens. At room temperature after cooking, they cannot be stored for longer than 10-12 hours. They can stay in the refrigerator for a week, but only if their shells are intact. Those specimens whose shell integrity is compromised should be consumed immediately. The maximum storage time for such a product is four days.

Only hard-boiled eggs are allowed to be saved. To do this, they need to be cooked for about ten minutes.

Harm and benefits of quail eggs

Benefit. Quail eggs have been eaten for a very long time to improve immunity. The uniqueness of the components of this product allows it to be used for medicinal purposes. Eggs contain:

a, d, b6, b12;
potassium;
sodium;
micro and macroelements;
magnesium;
iron;
phosphorus;
copper, etc.;
amino acids;
methionine

The product contains 158 calories per 100 grams - this is approximately 17 calories per 1 raw egg and 15 calories per 1 boiled egg. Eggs are equally beneficial for both female and male bodies.

Harm.

Under no circumstances should the product be abused. Overeating quail eggs entails a number of negative consequences. People with an allergy to egg whites especially need to be careful with eggs; doctors do not recommend using the product for patients with kidney and liver disease.

To summarize, it is worth noting that quail eggs are a very useful and important product for the human body. But do not forget that if stored incorrectly, you can turn the usefulness of the product into harmful food. In turn, poultry eggs are not very demanding to store. The positive aspects of this product are that the shelf life is long compared to other similar products. The availability and range of quail egg varieties today pleases consumers. It is easy to determine the freshness of the product by the appearance of the shell - it is usually bright in color without significant damage or cracks.

Is it possible to eat quail eggs raw?

Quail eggs: terms and storage conditions

The shelf life of quail eggs allows you to purchase this healthy product for future use so that you can indulge in delicious boiled eggs, fried eggs or a tender omelet in the morning for several weeks. Eggs are widely used not only in cooking, but also in cosmetology, because even in one copy a rich set of vitamins and nutrients is compactly packaged.

Traditionally, chicken eggs are the most popular in our kitchen because they are medium in size, and even one of them can become a complete snack in tandem with fresh vegetables. In addition, their price is quite affordable.

Quail eggs have a higher cost, but even a small child cannot afford one for breakfast. But they look very advantageous on a salad platter, surrounded by greens and cherry tomatoes. In addition, they have gained popularity among consumers due to their dietary and other beneficial properties, which are superior to their chicken counterpart in many respects.

Each quail egg contains:

calcium
iron
cobalt
phosphorus
copper
carotene
methionine
lysine
cystine
potassium
tryptophan
vitamins B1 and B2
nicotinic, aspartic and glutamic acids
protein

Thus, when eating quail eggs, the body receives luxurious building material and is saturated with vitamins. Of course, this does not mean at all that you can eat them in unlimited quantities and neglect other healthy foods, everything is good in moderation!

Nutritionists say that adults should not exceed the daily norm, which is 5-6 pieces, but for children three pieces will be enough.

How to store? Storage conditions and periods

The main purpose of the egg is to become the cradle of new life.

Eggs in the incubator

How well an egg will cope with its primary task depends on the conditions of its storage. Different rules apply here

The optimal temperature for storing eggs before incubation is 8-15⁰С, for ostrich eggs - 16-18⁰С
Humidity - 75-80%
Laying method

avoid multi-tiered laying of eggs
use special trays for laying
Place ostrich, quail, chicken, and turkey eggs vertically, with the blunt end up. To prevent tearing and stretching of hailstones, movement of the embryo and drying out of the medium, turn the eggs from top to bottom from time to time
Store goose and duck eggs in a horizontal position, also changing their position from time to time. To avoid confusion when turning over the incubation material, mark one side of the egg with a simple pencil

Shelf life of eggs at optimal temperature

chicken, ostrich and quail - 6-7 days
turkey -5-6 days
duck - 8-10 days
goose - 10-12 days

The video at the end of the article will tell you more about how long eggs should be stored.

Goose eggs differ from chicken eggs in size, thickness and structure of the shell, and the chemical composition of the yolk and white. Incubation of goose eggs is a rather complex and not always productive process.

Failures are mainly due to their poor quality. It is necessary to pay attention not only to the maintenance of adult birds, but also to the basic rules for selecting a good product for further hatching or incubation.

In warm weather, you need to collect eggs daily in the morning and evening. Spring temperature changes can lead to hypothermia; in summer they are threatened by heat. You should try to pick them up warm and leave them in a cool place for storage.

The incubation material should not remain in the nest for a long period of time for one reason: air enters the egg through the air chamber and, if it is in a dirty and damp place, bacteria can get inside.

The quality, viability and hatching of offspring largely depend on the storage conditions of goose eggs before incubation. In negative conditions, eggs quickly undergo aging after laying.

A batch of eggs is required for incubation. During the collection period, eggs should be stored on special pads or trays horizontally, regularly turning them 180° to prevent the yolk from moving and drying out.

The optimal temperature for storage is about 12°C and humidity up to 80%. Temperatures below 9°C and above 26°C are considered unacceptable.

The period that elapses from the moment of egg collection to incubation is very important. It also depends on the breed of birds bred at home. Storing for 10 days is considered the norm, and then the likelihood of successful removal decreases. Chicks after long-term storage of goose eggs turn out weak.

Can it be washed?

In most cases, it is not recommended to wash any eggs before placing them in the incubator. The supershell shell can be erased during washing, which leads to the evaporation of a significant amount of moisture from it and the destruction of microflora.

Waterfowl, although unintentionally, wash their eggs themselves. Under natural conditions, they get off the nest, swim in a pond, and then return wet and sit on the eggs, turning them over.

For a certain period of time the shell becomes wet. For this reason, during artificial hatching, goose and duck eggs can be washed, but only if the shell is more than 60% dirty.

A 1% solution of hydrogen peroxide or a pale pink solution of potassium permanganate is used for this procedure. Trying not to disturb the outer layer of the shell, wash carefully.

After this procedure, they cannot be wiped or rubbed, so as not to disturb the outer layer. For cleaning, you can use Persistam and Dezoxon, specially designed for disinfecting eggs.

It is important not to forget that the shells of goose eggs are permeable to vapors, gases and microelements. Its pores are much larger than those of chicken. It is necessary to disinfect no more than 30 minutes and no later than 2 hours after demolition.

It is not advisable to wash goose eggs with products containing mercury, chlorine, fluorine, iodine, or ozone. These substances can have a detrimental effect on the further development of the chick. Having been disinfected, they need to be put into containers and sent to the incubator, placing each row with a layer of sawdust. Eggs must be laid horizontally.

Goose eggs can be consumed, but they are less healthy for humans than chicken eggs. It is also not recommended to eat them raw, as there is a high risk of contracting salmonellosis.

Benefits to humans from the testicles of this poultry:

The composition includes vitamins (A, B, E) and minerals (calcium, phosphorus, etc.);
Helps cleanse blood vessels and intestines of toxins;
The lutein contained in them has a beneficial effect on vision;
Helps normalize hormonal levels;
They have a positive effect on brain cells and the genitourinary system.

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As mentioned above, raw eggs can contain dangerous bacteria - salmonella - in their yolk. With insufficient heat treatment, this dangerous pathogen of salmonellosis enters the human body with the product and begins to actively multiply in the small intestine, causing intoxication and a serious condition.

Larger than chickens in size and weight;
Their consistency is thicker;
They have a specific smell;
The shell is stronger, but the pores through which microorganisms can penetrate are larger;
Less calorie and less valuable in nutritional terms.

This product is very rare in stores. Geese rarely lay eggs, and these eggs are not often used for food. Therefore, it is possible to buy them mainly from farmers. When choosing, you need to pay attention:

On the integrity of the shell;
There should be no dirt or droppings on the surface;
The product should not emit strong unpleasant odors;
The shape should be standard without any bulges or irregularities.

Goose eggs must be stored in the refrigerator, just like chicken eggs. For them, the optimal temperature there is 5-10 degrees and a suitable humidity of 80-85%.

It is not recommended to wash eggs before putting them in the refrigerator. Water washes away the protective layer, and they can quickly deteriorate due to the penetration of microorganisms.

Washing the shells with water usually shortens the shelf life, so when purchasing, you need to choose clean eggs. And it is possible to extend the freshness for a couple of days by coating the testicles with lard, vegetable oil, or coating them with beeswax. These procedures will clog the pores and prevent pathogens from entering inside.

Preparation

When to collect eggs for incubation? It is recommended to collect material hourly. In the spring, if left in the nest for a long time, they will cool down, but in the summer, on the contrary, if the temperature is too high, they will overheat.

Egg selection parameters:

Medium sized material is selected. The approximate length should be 8-10 cm and width 4-5 cm.
The weight should also be standard depending on the breed of geese. Light breeds have an average weight of 130-160 grams, and heavy breeds have an average weight of 180-200 grams.
The shape of the testicles is correct, without dents or bulges.
The shell is without cracks and smooth to the touch.

All eggs selected by appearance must be illuminated with an ovoscope. This will help identify unfertilized and poor quality material. Signs of an optimal egg:

The white is light without spots or inclusions.
The air chamber is located at the blunt end. Not large in size.
There must be one yolk. It should be in the middle and not have clear boundaries. When the egg is turned over, it is movable and returns to its original position.

Signs of a defective egg:

Irregular shape;
The egg is not translucent;
The presence of two yolks;
The yolk is near the wall and does not move;
The air chamber is wandering or displaced;
There are calcareous growths on the shell;
Dark spots are visible inside the egg.

Preparation

In spring and summer, it is recommended to collect eggs twice a day. In the spring, a long stay in the nest leads to hypothermia, and in the summer, high temperatures cause a reduction in incubation qualities. It is best to remove the eggs from the nests while they are still warm and move them to a cooler room to cool.

In the future, it is important to keep them in a clean and dry room for a number of factors:

After cooling, an air chamber is formed on its blunt side, into which air is sucked through the pores in the shell.
If the nest or storage place is damp and dirty, pathogenic microorganisms penetrate inside along with the air, which provoke the death of the embryos.

Before placing them in the incubator, you need to collect a certain number of eggs. It is better to store them horizontally, turning them over periodically. The temperature in the storage room should not exceed 12 degrees, and the relative humidity should not exceed 80 percent. Figure 1 shows an example of embryo development with proper storage.

Figure 1. Development of a goose embryo during incubation

In addition, it is important to consider that the earlier the placement was carried out under the hen or in the incubator, the higher the viability of the young animals will be. The optimal storage period before storing is 15 days.

There is a way to increase the viability of embryos and extend the storage period. To do this, on the second day (but no later than the fourth) after laying, the eggs are placed in an incubator for five hours, where they remain at a temperature of 38 degrees. Then they can be transferred to a room for further storage at a lower temperature and kept there for up to 15 days.

You can also stimulate the growth and development of embryos using mercury-quartz lamps. They are brought at a distance of 40 centimeters from the shell and turned on for a maximum of 30 minutes. Under the influence of ultraviolet rays, vitamin D begins to be produced inside, which plays an important role in metabolic processes.

Figure 2. Possible defects

Before placing in the incubator, you need to check with an ovoscope. You can easily make it yourself, which we will discuss below. Fresh specimens have a medium air chamber and a fixed yolk. Eggs that have been lying around for too long have a mobile yolk and a larger air chamber at the blunt end. In Figure 2 you can see the main defects that can be detected when examined with an ovoscope.

Ways to increase shelf life

There are several ways to increase the shelf life of incubation material:

2-4 days after the egg was laid (but no later than 4 days), it is placed in an incubator at a temperature of 38°C for 5 hours, then taken out and put into a cooler room for storage.
To stimulate the production of vitamin D and increase the viability of the embryo, the incubation material is heated for half an hour with a quartz lamp from a distance of 0.4 meters.
Another method is called “artificial nest”: eggs are heated to a temperature of 37°C every day for an hour, simulating the presence of a goose in the nest.
Stimulation of metabolic processes by heating the material to 22-26°C for 12-18 hours immediately before incubation.
Storage in a gas mixture with a high percentage of nitrogen. After collecting the material and treating it with antiseptics, it is cooled and placed in thick plastic bags. Having filled them with nitrogen from a cylinder through a hose, they are hermetically sealed. You can store the incubation material in this way for 16-18 days. The presence of inert nitrogen gas helps to reduce the activity of microorganisms and stop putrefactive processes.
An increase in incubation temperature above normal in the initial period, which stimulates metabolic processes and accelerates metabolism, resulting in an increased likelihood of successful hatching.

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Using such methods, the shelf life can be extended to 18-21 days. The required qualities of eggs stored in this way are preserved almost unchanged.

The shell of goose eggs is permeable to gases, water vapor and microorganisms. The pores of the shell of goose eggs are larger than those of chicken eggs, so microflora and even mold fungi penetrate through them more easily.

The shell shells also allow gases, water, salt solutions and microelements to pass through. Microflora, penetrating the egg, multiply in the nutrient medium of the egg and reduce the results of incubation.

Geese lay eggs at a temperature of 40-41 degrees, but when they cool down to the temperature of the poultry house, the eggs adsorb a large amount of dust and microflora on their surface. Within 4-5 hours, the microflora intensively penetrates inside the egg and becomes inaccessible to disinfectants. Therefore, goose eggs must be collected with clean, dry hands into a clean container every hour.

During the collection process, eggs are sorted according to external characteristics, broken, notched, small, irregularly shaped, double-yolk, with deformed shells and dirty are rejected. Rejected eggs are used for feed purposes after thorough boiling.

Eggs intended for incubation are disinfected no later than two hours after laying directly in the poultry house or in the hatchery upon delivery from the poultry house.

Until recently, formaldehyde was used to disinfect hatching eggs. The eggs were disinfected in a sealed chamber with exhaust ventilation at a temperature of 25-30 degrees. To maintain this temperature, heating elements were installed in the chamber. For one cubic meter of the chamber, 30-45 ml of a 40% formaldehyde solution, 30-45 ml of water and 20-30 g of potassium permanganate were consumed.

Formaldehyde and water were poured into an enamel bowl, placed on the floor of the disinfection chamber, potassium permanganate was poured into it and the chamber door was quickly closed. As a result of a chemical reaction that lasts 30-40 seconds, the mixture heats up and formaldehyde vapor is released. Hatching eggs were kept in these pairs for 30 minutes.

Chlorine, fluorine, iodine and mercury containing compounds, as well as peroxides and ozone were also used to disinfect eggs with dirty shells. However, these disinfectants are either aggressive or highly toxic substances that can have negative effects both on the environment and on the development of poultry embryos and the health of service personnel.

Currently, various sanitizing preparations based on surfactants are used as agents, the distinctive features of which are minimal aggressiveness and toxicity, fairly pronounced bactericidal, virucidal and fungicidal activity, as well as a prolonged bacteriostatic effect. Such disinfectants include both domestic (ATM, BB-1, BB-5) and imported (Septodor, Virkon) and other drugs.

Tests of the above-mentioned modern disinfectants for the disinfection of the shells of hatching goose eggs have shown their better bactericidal effectiveness compared to those traditionally used such as formaldehyde and hydrogen peroxide. Of the tested new means of disinfecting the shells of hatching eggs, preference should be given to preparations BB-1 and BB-5 as the most effective, using them by irrigating eggs with a 0.5% solution.

Disinfected eggs are packaged in containers and sent to the hatchery or warehouse on the day of collection. Cardboard boxes with lumpy gaskets or wooden standard boxes with a capacity of 720 and 360 eggs are used as packaging:

When packed in cardboard boxes, eggs are placed in lumpy pads of 15 pieces. into each with the blunt end up.
When packing eggs in wooden containers, the inner walls of the boxes are lined with a dense layer of shavings 3-4 cm thick, on which the eggs are laid in rows.

Each row of eggs is laid with a layer of shavings. The eggs are laid in a horizontal position with the blunt end in one direction, with a longitudinal diameter along the length of the box. There should be no more than three such rows in a standard box. For a box with a capacity of 720 eggs, the consumption of chips is 5-6 kg.

Goose hatching eggs should be stored at a temperature of 8-18 degrees and at a humidity of 75-80%.

During the cold season, heavily chilled eggs cannot be immediately brought into a warm room, as moisture concentrates on them. The eggs are unpacked in a cool room or left in a container for 3-4 hours, then sorted.

For incubation, eggs should be used from clinically healthy birds free from infectious diseases. Eggs with a contaminated shell, irregular shape, with shell defects, double yolks, or with a displaced or movable air chamber are not suitable for incubation.

The selection of eggs for incubation is carried out by external signs and by transillumination using an ovoscope:

During an external examination, their weight, shape, condition and quality of the shell are taken into account.
When scanning, the size and position of the air chamber, the condition of the hailstones, the position and mobility of the yolk, the presence of inclusions, and the condition of the shell are taken into account.

The eggs are scanned in a darkened room using an I-11 ovoscope or on the SMUA mirage table.

Requirements for the quality of hatching goose eggs

Index	Geese breeds
Index	Lungs	Heavy
Mass of eggs for reproduction:
breeding herd, g	140-190	150-220
industrial herd	120-190	140-230
air chamber height, no more, mm	3,5	4,0
egg density, not less, g./cub. cm	1,080	1,085
shape index, %	67-70	63-70
Content in yolk, not less, mcg/g:
Carotenoids	13	13
vitamin A	8	8
vitamin B2	5	5
Howe units, not less	80	80
Shell thickness, not less, mm	0,55	0,50
Egg fertilization, not less, %	87	85
Hatching of healthy young animals, not less, %	65	63

From a batch to determine indicators that do not require opening eggs (weight, shape, density), at least 50 pieces are selected, to determine indicators that require opening eggs (vitamin content, Howe units, shell thickness) - at least 30 pieces.

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To obtain day-old young eggs that are uniform in weight and quality, eggs are calibrated into 2-3 weight categories. If the eggs come from a young bird, then during calibration, small and medium ones are separated, if from an over-aged bird, medium and large eggs are separated.

Mass of geese eggs by weight category and intervals between laying eggs for incubation.

Geese breeds	Egg mass, gr.			Interval between laying eggs for incubation, hours
Geese breeds	large	average	small	Interval between laying eggs for incubation, hours
Lungs	167-190	144-166	120-143	10
Heavy	200-230	165-199	130-164	12

At the same time, during evaluation and sorting, eggs are placed in trays, which are placed inclined on the table. Tray capacity is 51, 54 and 61 pcs. respectively for large, medium and small goose eggs.

Under normal conditions of keeping and feeding poultry, proper packaging and transportation of eggs, the number of rejected eggs should not exceed 5.5%, including:

eggs with contaminated, damaged and rough (with growths) shells - 3.0, 0.2 and 0.2%, respectively,
eggs of irregular shape - 0.3, small and very large (double-yolk) - 0.8%,
eggs with a large or movable air chamber - 0.3%,
eggs with torn hailstones - 0.2%,
eggs with mold - 0.3%,
eggs with other types of defects - 0.2%.

Fresh eggs should be used for incubation. If, according to production conditions, eggs have to be stored until incubation, then they must be stored in an egg warehouse in a horizontal position for no more than 10 days.

Storage regime for hatching goose eggs.

Index	Shelf life of goose eggs, days
	1-3

When storing hatching eggs for more than three days, they should be rolled horizontally once a day.