Clean Coop=Clean Nest=Clean Eggs That Don't Need Washing

[Outta Here]

Ok, I will change the title to :Clean Nests Make Washing Unnecessary or Optional

Eggs should be washed in 'water warmer than the egg'.
Simple physics, using colder water will cause the egg contents to contract, causing any 'germs' on exterior surface of egg shell to be pulled into the interior of egg thru the shell pores. Using warmer water will do the opposite.

I seriously doubt that the coating pigment will permeate the interior, but then I've never soaked any eggs that long.



I imagine if you lived where it rained and/or snowed you might have different techniques and outcomes.

Here's how to add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!
View attachment 2860996

What soaked into the egg was not the egg's pigment, but colored water. It took a lengthy soak.

"I imagine if you lived where it rained and/or snowed you might have different techniques and outcomes." aart

If my chickens didn't have a dry, clean coop, regardless of precipitation, their feet wouldn't stay clean and neither would the nest boxes. When I raised chickens for 20 years in Idaho, their pen was snug, clean, and dry and their eggs clean right from the box, even during deep snows.
In Arizona we get deluges during the summer called monsoons, where our entire year's 14 inches of rain pounds down in about three months. Riverlets run everywhere and people even drown driving into dips on otherwise dusty roads. Mud everywhere. Throughout all this, their eggs have come from the nest box spotless. My chickens free range all day, sometimes lounging in the dry outdoor covered coop bedded with fine grass hay.They only sleep or lay in the indoor coop, bedded with sand, which is always dry and clean. I think also that walking through the dry, clean sand of the indoor coop helps keep their feet clean.
Here's my indoor coop where they mostly only sleep and lay. It has a door to the much bigger outdoor covered run, which has a door to the big wide world they free range in. I spend 5 minutes early every morning raking the poop and wiping the roosts and shelves. Sometimes I wipe with a disinfectant.
Yes, a lot has to do with design of the chicken coop and run. Maybe those just building a coop would consider ease of maintaining nest cleanliness when planning. Clean coops=clean nests=clean eggs. But the possibility of achieving this depends a lot on design and maintenance.

 

[GC-Raptor]

I don't wash unless they have poop on them.
I used to wash all eggs, but haven't for about a year.
I refrigerate all eggs.
My customers know eggs are unwashed.
I wash eggs in warm water if they will be hardboiled and recommend the same to my customers.

If you wash eggs use warm water "104 F/40 C" and dry before you place in carton and refrigerate.
I rinse under warm running water and use a veggie or nail brush for poopy eggs.

When I did wash all eggs I washed in the evening and let them air dry overnight hanging above sink.
Only washed eggs were put in this basket.
GC
ETA; I keep my nests clean, don't allow chickens to sleep in nests.

 

[Outta Here]

I don't wash unless they have poop on them.
I used to wash all eggs, but haven't for about a year.
I refrigerate all eggs.
My customers know eggs are unwashed.
I wash eggs in warm water if they will be hardboiled and recommend the same to my customers.View attachment 2861008
If you wash eggs use warm water "104 F/40 C" and dry before you place in carton and refrigerate.
I rinse under warm running water and use a veggie or nail brush for poopy eggs.
View attachment 2861010
When I did wash all eggs I washed in the evening and let them air dry overnight hanging above sink.
Only washed eggs were put in this basket.
GC
ETA; I keep my nests clean, don't allow chickens to sleep in nests.View attachment 2861024

Great looking eggs and nests! But I am curious....why recommend washing when hard boiling eggs will not only wash, but sterilize the shell?

 

[GC-Raptor]

Great looking eggs and nests! But I am curious....why recommend washing when hard boiling eggs will not only wash, but sterilize the shell?

I only want clean eggs in my pot when hardboiling.
Bloom will cause a film on water and pot.
Just my way.
GC

 

[aart]

What soaked into the egg was not the egg's pigment, but colored water. It took a lengthy soak.

Ohhhh, I must have missed that part.
Interesting experiment, not surprising tho.

If my chickens didn't have a dry, clean coop, regardless of precipitation, their feet wouldn't stay clean and neither would the nest boxes.

Yeah, I don't keep my coop anywhere near that clean.
Still, I don't wash most my eggs as they don't need it.
I sell them to a few acquaintances, who understand the risks and techniques they can employ if they want. I keep the more soiled egg for my own use, which I wash before using.

I don't feel the need to argue the points, to wash or not is personal preference.

 

[Outta Here]

I only want clean eggs in my pot when hardboiling.
Bloom will cause a film on water and pot.
Just my way.
GC

Oh, the bloom making a film--makes sense to wash before boiling! Thanks for the tip!! I have one keto customer who eats many boiled eggs a day--I will for sure pass this tip on...

 

[Swbertrand1]

The way to achieve this is easy:
1. Never let chickens spend the night in the nest box

Not easy to do when the majority of your flock consists of certain breeds like Silkies..., but a good point nonetheless.

 

[Outta Here]

Ohhhh, I must have missed that part.
Interesting experiment, not surprising tho.


Yeah, I don't keep my coop anywhere near that clean.
Still, I don't wash most my eggs as they don't need it.
I sell them to a few acquaintances, who understand the risks and techniques they can employ if they want. I keep the more soiled egg for my own use, which I wash before using.

I don't feel the need to argue the points, to wash or not is personal preference.

Absolutely! Everyone should wash their eggs or not--that was never the point of the article. Heaven knows we don't need any more divisions between people in this current time, especially into "Washers" and "Anti-Washers"! Though the conversations did veer into the merits and dangers of both washing and not washing, that sharing of info (not shaming) is what this forum is all about. The point of my article was to show that it's possible not to have to wash eggs if you keep the coop and nest box clean, accomplished through coop design and maintenance.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Dang. I must be the worst chicken owner ever. My eggs are dirty sometimes. I must be clueless about design and maintenance. So glad there are people to set me to rights and point out how all of those of us who have the occasional dirty eggs are a bunch of idiots. Thank you. Oh thank you.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I refrigerate my eggs immediately. They come from clean nests for the most part. I wash just before selling, but I do NOT soak them. I put them in a basket, dip them briefly into a sink of slightly soapy warmish water, lift back out, pour some of the soapy water over them (Dawn dish soap and a shot of vinegar), then rinse soap off under running warmish water. If poopy, I wipe with damp paper towel. They then go on a clean white towel to air dry before going in cartons. I do this so any possible contaminants on shell will not go into the egg when shell is cracked. This is to protect the customer from illness, and me from liability. Just common sense, IMO.