I dont wash mine. I barely sell them and the people i do sell them to, dont care if there is a little dirt. Mine lay fairly clean eggs. But i dont think a little water would take away the bloom or the cuticle.
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Scanning electron microscopy.
Hmm. What do you think would be different? Many people's backyard hens are more than a year old, so they might have less cuticle coverage. Would free-range hens tend to have better or worse cuticle coverage than a commercial production hen? More variability or less variability?This is an interesting question; thanks for raising it. I haven't yet found anything pertinent to the main question, but in the meantime do note something I think important re: the cuticle/bloom, since those in the studies are surprisingly variable and of poor quality.
This paper https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2021.101691 (Effects of genotype and age on eggshell cuticle coverage and color profile in modern laying hen strains, Poultry Science 2022) says age does matter, and genotype moreso. Given that the definition of 'old' hen in these modern studies is just over 1 year (55 or 60 weeks, 70 weeks), and all the hens used are commercial production types of one strain or another, currently I would be inclined not to generalize any results from these studies to backyard heritage breed hens free-ranging in a mixed habitat.
the 2011 paper you cited used SEM, not the 1975 one.The studies I read only used staining if I remember right.
Cuticle quality may decline with age, but I'm not going to generalise it to all hens on the basis of studies that used birds only 23-70 weeks old, who were all production hens, fed commercial feed, in confinement. One of my 5 years olds is laying stronger eggs now than she did when she was 1-2 years old.What do you think would be different? Many people's backyard hens are more than a year old, so they might have less cuticle coverage. Would free-range hens tend to have better or worse cuticle coverage than a commercial production hen? More variability or less variability?
I don't think it is.What if the protective quality of the bloom is compromised by water even if the bloom isn't removed?
If you dunked the eggs in water, then let them dry, then washed them again and scrubbed them with your hands, would you still feel the bloom?I 'wash' eggs under warmer than the egg water and using my hands 'scrub' every part of the egg. I can feel the bloom, it feels kinda slimy. Some have much more than others, but pretty sure it all comes off. I only wash 'dirty' eggs immediately before using for myself,I do not wash eggs I sell.
Interesting.I don't think it is.
According to S. SAMIULLAH and J.R. ROBERTS 'The eggshell cuticle of the laying hen' World's Poultry Science Journal, Vol. 70, December 2014, the "cuticle layer of the eggshell is composed of inner calcified and outer non-calcified water insoluble layers" (emphasis added). This makes sense, as in nature an egg would be exposed to rain and dew, and if water in that form was harmful, the chick inside would fail to survive, so selection pressure must favour a cuticle not adversely impacted by exposure to rain. Another function of the cuticle is to keep "the water and electrolyte levels of the egg contents in balance by preventing evaporation", again suggesting impermeability.
They add that the cuticle is less effective as a microbial barrier when fresh and moist than when mature and dry, and that "Washing has the potential to damage the cuticle although manufacturers of modern egg washing equipment aim to reduce the impact on the cuticle".
Incidentally, noting the inconsistency in reports on the effect of age, they conclude that "Further research needs to be conducted to determine the effect of flock age on functional cuticle cover and such studies should involve vertical surveys of the same flocks at different ages". That was in 2014; I don't know if any more has been done on it yet.