Can I write on an egg with permanent marker?

Everytime I use crayon or pencil or washable marker, it somehow gets rubbed off.

Can I use permanent marker?

yep, lots of people around here have done it with no problems.

I wouldn't, but if I tell you why it wouldn't matter....

I use a # 2 lead pencil and hand turn my eggs, I don't have problems with the markings coming off.

I use a thin line sharpie and mark as little as possible. My eggs are under broodies, so anything less gets worn away quickly. It doesn't seem to have effected my hatches or the resultant chick(ens).

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Please tell us why, it might lead to a anti sharpie campaign on BYC.

To the OP sure you can write on them with permanant marker after all they are your eggs.

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Eggs placed under broodies also need to be marked, and pencil rubs right off. Sharpie stays on.

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Eggs placed under broodies also need to be marked, and pencil rubs right off. Sharpie stays on.

see i didnt know that

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Well, it is my opinion that ink based products *can* do more harm than good by reducing fertility. Ink is after all a liquid, and egg shells are porous, hence the dropped fertility.

And you say "yeah, but it dries before it has a chance to get in there." But I say, ever spilled water on a sheet of paper, the ink bleeds. Same with the humidity in the incubator.

Of course I have absolutely no scientific proof, but thats my thinking, so I stick to a VERY light pencile mark.

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Well, it is my opinion that ink based products *can* do more harm than good by reducing fertility. Ink is after all a liquid, and egg shells are porous, hence the dropped fertility.

And you say "yeah, but it dries before it has a chance to get in there." But I say, ever spilled water on a sheet of paper, the ink bleeds. Same with the humidity in the incubator.

Of course I have absolutely no scientific proof, but thats my thinking, so I stick to a VERY light pencile mark.

If the egg is fertile, writing on it with a Sharpie won't make it not fertile. It's either fertile or it's not, when it comes out of the hen. It doesn't get fertile later. Reduced fertility is caused by things that happen, or don't happen, before the egg is even laid.

Maybe these small, easy experiments can set your mind at ease, or if not, maybe other people's.

BTW, I always use black Sharpie, some of the other colors are not as reliable.

Write on a piece of paper with a Sharpie. Put a drop of water on it. I just did this, and it didn't bleed.

Write with a Sharpie on the shell of an egg you intend to eat. When you break it open, look inside the shell to see if it bled through. You'll see that it doesn't.

Take half of an eggshell, one that broke cleanly in half, so that you can float the shell like a little boat. Put some food coloring in a cup or bowl of water. Float your shell in the tinted water. Be careful not to get water inside the shell when placing it. Let it rest like that, undisturbed, overnight. Or for several days, if you like. See if any of the colored water seeps through the shell. You could even write on the outside of the shell with a Sharpie before you put it in the water, to see if that does anything at all.

The results are your scientific proof. You formed a theory and tested it. That's science. Won't get you published in a scientific journal, but it should help you see for yourself, what is and is not happening.

Sharpie ink is only liquid for a few seconds on the shell. Not long enough to soak in. Once the ink is dry, it's not going to oak into anything. It's dry. Even if you get the egg wet, the ink will not re-constitute. Shells are somewhat porous, but not so much as paper, so the comparison doesn't really work.

If all your eggs are hatched in an incubator, writing lightly with a pencil is fine, if that's what you're comfortable with. But if you set eggs under a hen, your marks will disappear. Then if other hens add eggs to the nest, you can't tell which they are, to remove them. I've also had multiple broodies, with eggs started on different dates, steal each others eggs. If I hadn't had them marked the dates set, with Sharpie, I couldn't have sorted them back out. I'd have lost a lot of chicks because of that.

What works in the house inside an incubator, won't necessarily work out in the hen house under a chicken.

I appreciate your concern for the chicks, I just think you're being concerned about things that don't actually happen.