dirty eggs??

[sue5050]

I am new to incubating chicken eggs, my daughter bought me some eggs from a farmer and they were soiled. I said I need to clean them but she said no the lady told her not to. so.. I set them yesterday, then, I read that they can get sick and die when hatching from dirty eggs,my question is should I leave them or take them out and wash them? or is it too late? thks for replying

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Wipe dirty areas with a paper towel. Whatever stays on is fine. If you wash them they are more susceptible to bacterial infestation. I know right? Sounds a bit counter intuitive. Eggs have a natural coating called bloom. It protects the porous egg shell from bacteria. If you wash it your taking off the bloom.

If your keen on washing the eggs you should sterilize your hands every time you touch them thereafter. It's just like the need to keep eggs in fridge if you wash them. If you keep as is you can store eggs in a basket on your kitchen counter for months. It's all about the bloom.

 

[sue5050]

thx, I will do that, next time I will not set them dirty like that.

 

[Chaos18]

Unless there are big chunks of mud and dirt on them they should be fine as is.

Washing, Cuticle, Sweating eggs post #63837

 

[Egghead_Jr]

thx, I will do that, next time I will not set them dirty like that.

You can still pull them out for a quick wipe and put back in. I'm with Chaos18 in that smudges don't matter, wipe off the chunks and caked on stuff.