Cleaning Hatching Eggs

[Stacykins]

OK, so a bit of minor OCD is bugging me a bit. I know not to wash hatching eggs. But is there a best way to gently clean them off? I have some duck hatching eggs that are on the dirty side (I know ducks tend to have muddy feets and get 'em all over their eggs, so I know it is normal). I just want to clean them off a bit so I can better candle them when they are developing. I haven't popped them in the incubator yet, they're still settling. But I want to clean them before they go in.

 

[sheboyganjohn]

I have not done a ton of hatching, usually only one set a year, but have dealt with dirty eggs. What I have done is use a small medium bristle brush and cleaned them dry.

I have just set 59 eggs and had some dirty ones. I put some in dirty (with in reason), used a damp paper towel and very precisely cleaned a few and the others I just wiped down completely with the damp paper towel just to see what happens.

 

[dickhorstman]

I wash all dirty eggs with warm water. Hatcheries wash every eggs before setting.

 

[DMRippy]

Wash to me implies a good scrub... I don't do that. I use Oxine in my water and get a rag and run water over the egg. Really dirty eggs I dab the dirt till it is gone. I run water over them again. I don't rub anything hard enough to rub the bloom off. It seems to be working fine. 90% of my eggs develop and of the viable eggs that make it to lockdown most all of them hatch. Bacteria is what stops most eggs from developing so I think a sanitizer is a good idea just don't scrub or rub too much. Remove all you can and leave the rest.

 

[HetaChick]

Cleaned a really filthy OEGB egg which as covered in something rather nasty with warm water and a paper towel. Now I have a healthy baby bird. I'd wash it/ or rinse and wipe off.

 

[Stacykins]

Whew, thanks all. I used warm water and a damp paper towel to clean the dirt off the eggs and dried each egg promptly with a fresh hand towel. I've never cleaned an egg before (never really had any that needed it), so seeing the dirt was making my head spin!