Dirty eggs? What do you do? Clean or leave them?

[Hennypen]

just wondreing.

 

[FenDruadin]

Leave 'em. My hatch rate went way up after I stopped washing eggs. I don't set the really filthy ones unless they're particularly valuable to me for some reason, and then I wipe them with a dry cloth and set them dirty.

To keep them clean, I put lots of straw in the nest boxes and set golf balls in them. Works like a charm. Not all ducks lay in the nest boxes, but most of them do, so I get enough clean eggs to set them relatively clean.

 

[pgpoultry]

I agree, they are probably meant to survive a bit of poop. Washing will remove the natural protective coat and will even reduce the shelf life of the eggs that you wish to eat.
At most wipe them clean and avoid incubating the really encrusted ones.
Sandie

 

[abanjaf]

There was a similar post to this one recently. I offered the comment to leave them, after all, under mom's warm belly there's bound to be some poop down there! I've had no problem hatching eggs that I had to wipe a bit of poo off of

However, here's a quote from the former post that I mentioned:


"Practical poultry mag. March 2010 "Make sure all dirt is removed {gently using lukewarm water and an abrasive pad where necessary}, and a suitable disinfectant such as Barrier V1 {heavily diluted} to guard against bacterial growth inside the incubator."

 

[FenDruadin]

Hm. Interesting quote. But I disagree with it heartily. We live in such a germophobic world. Washing and then disinfecting may be what the large industrial operations do, and they probably have to because in a major operation there is SO much opportunity for bacterial growth and it's impossible to keep everything scrupulously clean without the use of major detergents and disinfectants.

But on a smaller scale, basic hygiene is almost always sufficient, and even preferable. Washing, scrubbing, and then disinfecting goes a long way to destroy the natural barriers the egg is naturally endowed with.

My hatch rate went up by almost 10% (from 80s to 90s) when I stopped washing my eggs.

People who write magazine articles are people just like us. They each have their own opinions and those come through in the articles they write. It drives me crazy, actually, the junk I read in magazines, because I know people tend to take advice more seriously when it comes from a magazine or book, and I HATE it when misinformation is presented, or when opinion is presented as fact. But there it is. It happens all the time--a person just has to take it all with a huge grain of salt.

And just for the record,

, I'm not suggesting that abanjaf is one of those who takes the magazines too seriously. I know you were just posting for our information, and I appreciate it and DO think it's valuable to have various opinions on here. Thank you.

 

[ChooksChick]

I leave them. I won't send them unless I've made certain a customer understands I won't wash them- and when it's muddy, I have to tell them, because none are clean! I don't ever think of washing them!

 

[al6517]

I have been washing and cleaning mine in the past and I can't help but wonder with some marginal hatches, this time I left them as they came from the nest box and the results at candling were better, and the few I did clean as a control, you could see clearly where they were cleaned and the eggs were clear with no development. So I am trying the dirty egg hatch method and taking notes.

AL

 

[klf73]

I don't wash them. I had a broody girl that was chased off her nest by a skunk, skunk broke one egg before I got him out of there. The other's were poopy, dirty and had egg on them(only been incubated a week). I only set them because my kids begged and since we candled and they were alive(got down to 30 that night and she wasn't on them). I put them in a carton with a lid just in case any exploded and so the other eggs in the bator didn't touch them. 1 quit right away(it was the cleanest egg) and out of the remaining 5, 4 hatched(last died in shell, it was real big chick in a little egg). I thought for sure they wouldn't hatch because they were filthy

eta- I have received plenty of eggs you can tell the poop was scraped off or cleaned off some how and most don't hatch in my experience. I have one in my bator now that came with poop smeared on it. It goes in the hatcher tomorrow.....

 

[abanjaf]

Quote:
I posted that quote, because that is what someone else posted when I said not to wash them! I've never read said magazine and if you had read my ENTIRE post, you would have seen that I do not wash them, only wipe off the poo. You know, I find this really funny. The last time when I posted not to wash eggs, I was blasted with that quote from the magazine. This time, I once again say that I do not wash, but offered the quote. And instead once again feel like I'm under fire, even though iamcuriosity cat put it ever so politely Apparently, I must take this stuff too seriously!

 

[katharinad]

I personally think scrubbing, dry rubbing and even sanding will damage the protective film and even move the egg as well. The movement can detach the air sack and cause death to the egg. Commercial hatcheries all wash their eggs and still have a good hatch. You will need to raise the humidity by 10%, if you wash them in a way that the protective film is removed. Do I clean my eggs? You bet. This is for the eggs going into the incubator of course. I had a batch with really stinking eggs in the incubator because I did not clean them. There were not that dirty but duck eggs need a long time to incubate and the bacteria will grow and can penetrate the egg. I think I'm using a method that will get most of it off, but not hurt the film. I'm not trying to get them spot free or sparkling clean, but do remove stuck on stuff. I soak paper towel in warm water and wrap the eggs in it for a minute. Then I gently wipe off the dirt without rotating the egg or rubbing it. It comes off really easy with this soaking method, so there is really not much wiping involved. I don't think this removes the film, so I'm not even increasing the humidity and still have a very good hatch. I've heard from someone who uses betadine when washing eggs. She said it works well for her. Never tried that, but I would consider that if I had an egg explode on other eggs. Haven't had this happen yet, since I candle and check for heart beats weekly. I use a cheap stethoscope for the heart beat check. This can be done from about day 10 in duck eggs, probably earlier in chicken eggs.
Katharina