Can washed eggs hatch?

[DawnMarie74]

I'm a fairly new chicken owner and I'm experiencing my first broody. I have no rooster, but just received 6 eggs from my neighbor who does. I want to give my girl the eggs first thing in the morning, but it looks like these eggs may have been washed. Can washed eggs hatch? If not, I don't want waste her time sitting on duds.

Thanks,
Dawn

 

[tinychicky]

maybe. set them under the hen for 2-3 days, then candle them with a bright light. if you see veins on the inside of the egg, your good to go!

 

[Cat Water]

I think they can, but the hatch rate might be decreased because washing eggs rinses off the "bloom" that the hen puts on the shell of the eggs to keep out bacteria. I have never hatched any eggs before, let alone washed ones. It's pretty hard to break a broody, so you might as well try to hatch them.

Just my 2 cents.

ETA: I also agree with what tinychicky said.

 

[abritton77]

I bought 11 eggs off a guy who had washed them and hatched out 10 of them. I do not know how he had washed them.

 

[DawnMarie74]

Thanks for your quick replys! I will go ahead and give her the eggs tomorrow morning. I'm so egg-cited to see if this is all going to work out.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

Absolutely they have the opportunity hatch if they were washed. That's if they are fertile and were stored correctly (not in fridge, and less than 7 days sitting on the counter). We've do it all the time. We don't send out dirty eggs to folks who buy hatching eggs from us, so we wash the dirty eggs and put them in our own incubator.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

99+% of the eggs hatched on this planet are washed and sanitized. They can hatch very well.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

All hatchery's wash there eggs.

 

[jvls1942]

I am surprised to see so many people in favor of washing eggs..

We wash all of our eggs also.. I have done dirty eggs in the past, and found on average, the ones with pooh on them did not hatch as well..

the bloom theory is a mythe..

 

[darin367]

I've only had chickens for 6 months so I don't know much... Here's what I just did/accomplished.... Washed every single one of my 30 eggs with cold water right after retrieving from the nest box, kept them in the fridge for 2 weeks......... put 18 under a broody hen, 14 hatched.....put 12 in the incubator 8 hatched, 1 didn't make it thru the hatching process and 3 who knows.... Here's what I've learned... No matter what, it's easier to let the hens hatch em, raise em, they keep em warm teach em what to eat etc....... no more incubators, brooders, to much time involved... The bottom line in my opinion is "let mother nature do her job."