Should I clean off dirty eggs before I start incubating?

[jvls1942]

usually running them under a faucet and rubbing them with your hands or a paper towel is enough.. I don't sanitize them any further,but if you do use bleach, go very sparingly with the bleach in the water.. I would use like a tablespoon of bleach to a gallon of water..

 

[Buckeyes-R-Us]

keep us posted on your success (or failure) after washing the eggs.....I'm in the "other camp" NEVER wash an egg I intend to hatch but I dont attempt to hatch extremely dirty eggs either!

i had a guy bring hatching eggs to me for incubation one year and none of them hatched....after talking to him he told me he washed them in a disinfecting solution based on some info he found on the wonderful world called the internet! perhaps his cleaning method was not up to snuff with those of you who posted "wash them" here at BYC?

anyway, when I read threads about "washing eggs" some say use cool or cold water, some say warm or hot (up to 105F?), some say wash them right before placing in the bator, some say wait 24 hrs, some say to towel dry them, some say let them air dry, some say use bleach, some say NEVER use bleach....it just way to confusing so I defer to this MSU document when someone asks me what I think about the subject;

http://msucares.com/poultry/reproductions/poultry_wash.html

Good luck "chicmom" I hope they ALL hatch, (fingers and toes crossed for you)

 

[StormyMoon]

I have never washed my eggs, but I make sure that the girls have fresh nest to lay in every morning when I go and let them out at 6 am , I have only had 1 or 2 that have smudges on them "I agree with not washing them" scrape off if there is extra crusty stuff but I wouldn't ever wash them.

Besides think of this if they was under a broody the chicks have to come out some time to walk in the coop they will be around poop walking in it.

Its just natural I think.

 

[chicmom]

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OH....I Just looked at your link and my head is spinning......This is a very controversial subject! Now, I don't want to wash the eggs...It does bother me that these are kinda dirty.......WHAT TO DO..........

I appreciate your link though, very thoughtful!

 

[chicmom]

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Very good point as well.........Thank you!

 

[Buckeyes-R-Us]

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Sharon, it is a VERY controversial subject indeed and if you ask 100 people 50% will say "wash" and 50% will say "don't wash"! Like "Stormymoon" stated, simply scrape the crusty stuff off....I use a razor blade if it's really crusty and sometimes a "scotch-brite" pad to loosen any mud. I've bought hatching eggs that were dirty, too and when I've used the "scrap & scotch-brite" system they were good hatches. Having a clean coop with saw dust or straw in the nests is the best method to getting clean eggs but some egg sellers dont mind shipping dirty eggs!

This debate pops up ALL the time on our Buckeye Yahoo Group or our Buckeye Facebook page and I like to say, "when I see one of my Buckeye hens washing a batch of eggs before she sits on the nest I'll start washing ALL of my hatching eggs, too!".......that's me being a smart arse!!!

Good luck,

 

[Ridgerunner]

I think it is controversial because there is no clear cut answer. We are not commercial hatcheries and don't have the products, equipment, experience, or techniques they use. And there are so many different variables involved in hatching it is hard to be sure how one specific thing affected the hatch. Commercial operations don't just "wash" the eggs. They wash them in a specific product using a specific technique. They don't just clean their incubators they sanitize them. Brinsea does sell a product to use to wash eggs for incubating. I have not tried that product or seen the instructions that come with it. I don't know what that product uses to kill the bacteria, clean the egg, or if it has something in it that recoats the egg, taking the place of the bloom. I don't know if it is true or not, but I've read that the oil on a broody's feathers has a sanitizing effect on the eggs. I just don't know what to believe.

When eggs are incubating, the humidity and temperature gives a perfect climate for bacteria to reproduce. That's the big thing you are worried about. If the egg is dirty and has bacteria on it, then that bacteria might work its way inside the egg. If wash water is dirty then that dirty water can soak through the shell and carry bacteria inside.

I can't tell you what to do. I think it has to be your judgment call depending on how dirty the eggs are. If you judge them to be dirty, I think I would rub them gently with fine sandpaper and try that. I'd also get the incubator as clean as possible before starting incubation but you should do that before any incubation. Then I would do a smell test on them as they are developing, removing any that get to smelling funky.

I'm not saying this is the right thing to do, since I don't know. It is what I would probably do.

Good luck!!!

 

[chicmom]

Thank you, Buckeye, Ridgerunner......I really appreciate all the different opinions.......I personally try to keep my nest boxes and nesting materials clean, so when I collect my eggs, they're usually pretty clean looking to begin with. Of course my eggs are just for eating....

These eggs are pretty dirty, and I am really on the fence about what to do....I'm thinking maybe gently scraping off any surface dirt would be good......And I am not complaining about the dirty eggs....I appreciate the lady who sent me these so much! So sweet of her....she only charged me postage....and sent 20 eggs! (They're bantam Polish frizzle)

OH I KNOW, I KNOW, I GO BACK AND FORTH........

! I will make my decision tonight, when I get home........

 

[CariLynn]

What a timely thread. I just cleaned out the giant dog crate my broody hen is in with 3 eggs, and I noticed a smell. When I took her off the nest she has been pooping out behind her, it has all run down and was all over the eggs!! So we quickly cleaned the eggs with hot water, I then put them on the clean nest with fresh hay and Zoe went right back to them. Unfortunately she is very sparse on her chest of feathers, so I wonder if some of that poop was on her as well but I was not going to risk her eggs getting cool to check her over well. While I was cleaning, my husband set her on the floor and she did this little dance where it looked like she was hopping from one foot to the other, stopped, squatted and the nastiest, grossest smelling stream of green chunky poop came out of her you have ever seen! She stood up, shook herself then started grumbling and wanted right back on those eggs!

What we may do is make a little round type pen for her, take her off the eggs x2 a day, morning and night to go poop then let her go right back on them if she so wants to. This way she will be better able to relieve herself and I won't worry about how nasty the nest and eggs are. All I can do is hope and candle them to ensure they are still growing properly and didn't die.

 

[gallatea]

My book Story's Guide (written by someone that raised chickens 40 years) - says you can, the water has to be warm - 100 degrees, and don't soak them, quickly clean what needs cleaning with a soft cloth or your fingers. 1/2 tsp. of bleach in 2 quarts of water will sanitize. Many commercial hatcheries do this too.

You only do it if they are really dirty. Again though, no soaking or hard rubbing. Just do it quickly and gently.

I did it with some eggs I purchased that were filthy coming to me. I incubated 1 unclean and others all clean just to see what would happen. The dirty one had big blobs of bacterial growth on the outer surface of the egg within a day. In the trash it went. The clean ones hatched just fine.