2 eggs detinated, one got me! AHHHH - need advice

[19hhbelgian]

Well, I went down to check on my eggs tonight, and as soon as I opened the door to the basement, I knew it was not going to be pretty. I went over to the incubator, and 1 egg had popped it's top and made a mess in the incubator

So I took the top off and removed the egg that was next to the bad egg. I sat it gently on the table, and moved to the side a little bit to get paper towels... next thing I know that egg pops like a fire cracker, and blows gunk every where

I'm pretty tough when it comes to things like this, but i was gagging!

So, how do I tell when I should remove an egg? Both of these had simply quit, and we're only 3 days from hatching. I'm terrified I'll remove a good egg

Any advice would be great!!

 

[MandyH]

Oh Lord, I went to throw one one time and it popped like a firecracker and went all down my arm and side of my head. So I can sympathize with you on that. I couldn't get the smell of for nothing, finally had to spray straight bleach on me and rub it in. UCK!! I candle once a week to see if they are developing, if they are not I throw them away. After you candle a bit you will know what to look for, but your nose is your best friend in finding bad ones. Just pick them up and smell them if they look questionable, but do it GENTLY.

 

[19hhbelgian]

So it's basically a learning process

Trust me, I will be VERY careful! I will also be smelling any eggs that I have doubt about. I didn't think you could actually smell it through the shell...

 

[FenDruadin]

A bad one will smell up the whole incubator, even before it pops.

I just wanted to mention that for removing smells, there is a much less toxic and still highly effective method than bleach on your skin (yikes! lol). Pour some baking soda in your hand, add dish detergent (the liquid kind you use for hand-washing the dishes), then a little water to make it "spreadable" and spread it all over the affected area. This mixture cleans, scrubs, disinfects, and removes stains pretty well too (it won't "bleach" stuff like chlorine bleach does, but it will somewhat whiten and brighten things). I use it on my hands when I've been handling smelly stuff, and on surfaces for general cleaning. It takes icky odors out like nothing else I know of. Make sure to get it under your fingernails if you've had your hands in yucky stuff.