Dirty Eggs... How Can I Clean Them?

[FreeChicken!]

One of my hens is currently incubating four eggs. But then she had to... go. And now her nest--and the eggs--are filthy. How can I clean these eggs without damaging them or scraping the protective membrane off?

 

[sumi]

How long has she been sitting on them? If it's less than a week it may be better to discard them and give her new ones. I washed poop off half incubated eggs once and they all went off. If it's no too bad, wipe it off with a damp cloth and

 

[FreeChicken!]

She's been sitting on them for nearly two weeks.
Okay, thanks!

 

[FreeChicken!]

Oh, and I checked them again today to see exactly how dirty they were, and found out that only one is extremely dirty. Thank goodness.

 

[Toast n Jelly]

I've never incubated a dirty egg whether it was incubated by me or the hen. The idea of bacteria growing on the egg in high heat never made sense to me so I wiped them off with a damp cloth and honestly, I have never had poor hatch rates due to the bloom being washed off. Clean it off and put it back or not but please don't throw eggs out because of the poop that you can easily clean off! Good luck and looking forward to seeing your hatch.

 

[FreeChicken!]

Thank you!
Last night, I gently cleaned them with a warm, wet cloth. I let the hen, Alice, out to wander the yard and graze for a bit while I also cleaned her nest, and Misty, my other broody hen, was very happy to sit on four extra eggs for about twenty minutes. Alice wasn't happy though!

But now she's on the nest again and pretty content.
Thanks again!

 

[Toast n Jelly]

Quote:
Great! and we're with you on this hatch but of course we need pics!

 

[FreeChicken!]

Great news! One chick hatched yesterday, and another last night. It was pretty funny. My friend and I went to check the first chick, whom we were calling Sophie, and when I reached under Misty and pulled out a different chick, we both said at the same time, "That's not Sophie."

Two chicks! I'm very excited!

 

[sumi]

Congratulations!

 

[Toast n Jelly]

Yay!! What breed/breeds are they?