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I read somewhere when I first got chickens that you should discard any eggs not laid in the nesting box. I have always thrown those away but got to thinking that people that have free range chickens, eat the eggs they find wherever they find them. Do I still need to discard these or can I start eating them?

Joseph E candiloro
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but got to thinking that people that have free range chickens, eat the eggs they find wherever they find them.

Your reasoning is correct if you are sure that the egg is coming from your chicken.

When I was a kid we raised chickens.

During winter months they were in a little cage, and their eggs would be laid just there.

During summer we would bring them to our summer house in the countryside, and they would be free to roam around for part of the day. Most of the times they would lay their eggs inside the coop, because that was their "nest", but sometimes it happened that an egg would be laid somewhere else.

Unless it was cracked, we would not discard it, because there was no other bird who could lay those eggs around.

I can imagine that picking a random egg laid in the wild by an unknown bird might not be always safe.

L.Dutch
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  • While hens' eggs can be quite variable if you have several breeds, they're still unlikely to be confused with those of wild birds. And people do forage for birds eggs to eat - those of black-headed gulls are apparently a delucacy. – Chris H May 06 '23 at 06:53
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    There are only a few birds that lay poisonous eggs. They are fortunately mostly found in the dense jungle habitats of Sumatra and Borneo. So, you are unlikely to find these eggs in your day-to-day experience. – Neil Meyer May 07 '23 at 13:06