Can you...

[Goat_Walker]

Can you write on eggs with sharpie or marker?

I am having trouble remembering which egg is which

I heard that if you rub too hard while washing an egg that whatever you are cleaning will rub into the egg, which is why i am asking about the marker thing.

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

I would use a pencil, or china marker. Sharpie or a marker is liquid ink that can seep into the pores of the shell...

 

[silkiechicken]

Best use a pencil, but I've had eggs sharpied and hatch just fine.

 

[Goat_Walker]

mind checking the eggs out?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=1158515#p1158515

I am new to "raising" eggs so im not sure what to look for

 

[encmanerabbitry]

What do you mean by "washing" the egg? I thought that was a big no no.

I would just use pencil.

 

[Akane]

You don't even have to rub. Just using colder water than the egg temp will draw bacteria into the shell. You should not wash eggs. In fact the USDA rules for selling eggs for food do not allow submerging eggs in water because the risk of getting bacteria in the egg increases so much. They can only be rinsed in very hot water. Eggs also have a natural coating that keeps bacteria out that you don't want to wash off. You can dry scrub or sandpaper off dirt and droppings but other than that most people don't clean their hatching eggs.

Markers and sharpies are debateable. Some say they haven't had problems but there's not really enough info to be certain. Best to play it safe and just use pencil since pencil has been used on many many hatches for a long time without any problems.

 

[Goat_Walker]

Quote:
I had a clutch once that went really wrong. I had goats at the time and they went in and walked all over my eggs ( mama was doing it natural) so the eggs went bad and a few exploded into a yucky mess. Luckily, I was out there when it actually hapened, so I cleaned out the hay and the bad eggs and rinsed off the good eggs that had gotten splattered. Mama got right back on the nest once it was all cleaned up.