Dirty shipped eggs..

[calgal98]

Have any of you received really dirty eggs when buying shipped eggs? If so, what did you do before incubating and what were the hatching results? I've bought quite a few shipped eggs, but none so dirty as the ones currently incubating. I know what I did, but would like to know what others have done in similar circumstances.
I did wipe mine. (I'm talking really, really filthy, here) Of 24 eggs I'm down to 3 survivors. I had several develop the blood ring (bacterial, I'm assuming) and many just never developed. I am guessing that since I lost all of the salmon favorelles that they were just not fertile or really shook up in shipping. Would be really interested to know if its ever really worth incubating when they are so dirty.

 

[Marlinchaser]

if they are REALLY dirty then they would not go in my bator, so I certainly wouldnt send them to someone if I cared about them getting a good hatch rate. If it is just a little bit of DIRT then I would just wipe it off.

 

[calgal98]

No, these were filthy. Not just a little dirt on one or two, but lots of filth on all but one or two of 24 shipped eggs. I, personally, would have been embarrassed to have shipped eggs like this to anyone. But they did. Just trying to see what others have done in similar circumstances.

 

[AHappychick]

oh thats not good, I would never ship filthy eggs to anyone. I have receieved a few pretty dirty ones and just scraped of any extra stuff I could and set it anyway. Funny thing is all the dirtiest ones hatched. I would think that wiping them removes the bloom and hurts the hatch. But I can understand why you would not want to put filthy eggs in your bator. You should leave feedback for the person, or ask that they send new ones and clean out their nest box first.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

What kind of eggs are we talking about? Waterfowl eggs are going to be dirty no matter what it seems.

If it is surface debris, you can remove it with a fine grained sandpaper. If you feel they just have to be washed, make sure to use water that is warmer than the egg, but not too hot. Cool/cold water will drive the bacteria deeper inside the egg.

 

[insiderart]

I got some eggs that were really dirty. Poopy. I washed the dirtiest in a 10% bleach solution that was warmed. I wet down paper towels soaked in the warm solution, wrapped them around the egg for a minute or two, then wiped off the goop. Dried them off and put them in the incubator.

I received 7 eggs, I washed 3. Of the unwashed 2 hatched 1 blood ringed and one didn't pip (they weren't as dirty as the 3 I washed). Of the 3 washed 2 hatched and one blood ringed.

So washing seemed successful to me.

 

[warmandfuzzy]

I have eggs hatching today that were VERY dirty when given to me by a local farmer. I mean these eggs had so much poo on them I hesitated to use them. I washed them gently with a cloth and warm water not getting them completely wet. Of the six washed eggs I think 5 of them have already hatched. I will know tomorrow when I empty the incubator. One of the washed eggs was the first to hatch a HUGE chick. I know this varies and some people have had poor hatches with washed eggs.
Carol

 

[calgal98]

Well, of the 24 eggs she sent I only have 3 left in the incubator. They seem to be developing, but we shall see. I understand losing eggs to shipping and other stuff, but to send such dirty eggs was baffling. Its too easy to keep nests clean.

 

[EweSheep]

I had gotten a doz of the SSH Bantam eggs from a guy out in the West Coast off from Ebay and they were pretty dirty, I mean DIRTY! I cleaned off the best I can and got a few blood rings and no chicks hatched out of the lot. I was not happy about it and let the breeder know and he said dirty eggs do not affect the hatching.

So I would NOT ever buy any eggs from him anymore. (Mind you, it is NOT Jim LaGendre, he's a great guy to deal with!)

I honestly believe it has alot to do with getting some survivable chicks and for your incubator's sake as well.

It takes an extra effort to keep the nest boxes clean and if you must clean them, do so and let the buyers know that you have cleaned them. Or wait until all the rainy weather pass so the girls do not track in with muddy feet.

 

[farrier!]

I have received dirty eggs. They either did not start or died very early on. None of the dirty ones hatched.....