Egg cleanliness

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gsp31

gsp31

Hatching
10 Years
Apr 28, 2009
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7
Just finished hatching 7 of 7 eggs I took from our RP hen. Was going to let her incubate the rest but now she has 17 eggs and still not acting broody other than rolling the eggs daily. I decided since the incubator is free again I'd take those 17 and stick them in.

My question is, where she laid is where the horses used to come in to the shed and they have old dried horse manure on the eggs. I know not to wash them, but is it all right to just wipe them off with a dry cloth and poke them in the incubator? Some are fairly dirty. What's everyone else do?
 
I just wash them. I kept hearing back and forth about washing and not washing eggs so I did a test with about 6 flats of eggs, I washed 1/2 with warm water, no soap or disenfectant. There was zero difference in the hatch.

Steve
 
Thanks for the reply Steve. I'll give them a warm wash before I put them in the incubator. Another question I have is how will much would you think my hatch rate will be off due tp some of the eggs being older. I'm guessing her eggs are as old as 4/3 up to the present. Guess I'll just stick them in and see!
 
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When you think about it a hen will lay an egg a day or every other day until she gets the "magic" number of eggs she wants to sit on. Some of those eggs could be 15 days old plus. It's to bad you didn't date the eggs it would be interesting to see what the hatch rate will be. I had thought about doing that before, gathering eggs and dating them to see at what point the hatchability really starts to drop off but it would be a pain to do.

Steve
 
Yeah, wished I had dated them but was planning on her hatching them. I know the last egg I took from her on the first batch was dated 4/2 so all of these were since then. She either layed every or every other day since that time. Be interesting to see what rate I get since the first seven eggs she ever layed all hatched!
 
I have dated my eggs and see no fall off in fertility till about 2 weeks. Might be less favorable in hot weather but that is just speculation. Also that is stored indoors at room temp from 60 to 70 degrees, not on a nest.
 
Mine came from the nest so will be interesting to see how this hatch goes. Funny thing is after I pulled 14 of her 17 eggs, she layed another yesterday and is now sitting. To be nice, I took a few from the ones that weren't in the incubator yet to slip under her. She was not a happy camper but now has 7 eggs in her nest so we'll see how she does her first time.
 
I don't wash mine for the most part.

they say there is a protective cuticle/bloom on the eggs to keep bacteria out of the pours. so i wouldn't recommend scrubbing them, especially if they are expensive eggs...

The bloom is a thin protein coating (wax like) that protects the egg from the entrance of harmful bacteria through it’s porous shell also aids in moister loss) Washing also removes this protective cuticle, making the egg more susceptible to contamination. Just Rinsing the egg gently should not remove this barrier, just as rain will not remove it..
 
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I always wondered about that. the bloom has to be porus as well and when the hen is turning the eggs they are rubbing against each other and whatever they are layed in. Straw, leaves etc. That has to rub it off. When you mark an egg with a pencil or sharpie in a nest by the end of the incubation it's pretty much gone. Neither the eggs or the birds are giving up how that works.

Steve
 

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