Do you wash fresh eggs? Refrigerate or no?

[PatiHF]

Thanks, I'm like alot of folks on here... new to chickens, but I am totally addicted! I have 3 Wyandotte crosses that are about 8 or 9 months and I thought I finally had all 3 laying, but now I sometimes only get 1 or 2 eggs from all 3 of them. I just wasn't sure if they do that or if I should be concerned. I feed them good scratch feed with a little extra rye mixed in and a layer mash in a separate feeder and the oyster shell in a separate dish. I also give meal worm treats in the evening when I lock them up. my garden keeps them supplied with zuchinis or cukes, and I also pull the purselane which they enjoy. I do wonder if I am feeding too much scratch because they dont clean it up by any means. My coop has 4 nesting boxes but the only seem to use two of them, and I try to collect 2 or 3 times a day, cause I had some birds flying in and pecking the eggs.
I also just bought 3 more pure Blue Laced Red Wyandottes from a breeder and am spending way too much time watching them!!! I have them in a clear plastic tote with a heat lamp. So far, they seem to be doing well.
So, by now you can see I am certifiably Chicken Crazy... will accep all suggestions or corrections! Thanks again!

 

[silverstuff182]

Hi, I read your article on washing/storing eggs. I do most of what you recommend but now I will wash in WARM water. Thanks! Now, the Polish people wax eggs that are going to be stored. Does anybody on the team know whether that works? I washed and stored about 75 eggs last year. I don't have many people living here and we don't use them very quickly. They turned out to all be dried out! I wonder about waxing them. Thanks

 

[Abriana]

don't wash them in cold water. The bacteria on the outside of the egg want to be warm, so if you wash it in cold water the bacteria will move into the middle of the egg, and if you eat it you could get sick. Wash in warm water only if you need to wash, if you can, wipe the egg with a dry paper towel. i store mine on the counter. Before the egg is laid, the hen coats the egg with a protective coating called the bloom. It keeps bacteria from entering the egg, so you can store it on the counter, but washing the egg (in warm or cold water) removes the coating and then they need to go in the fridge.

 

[firestomp]

Hi, I read your article on washing/storing eggs. I do most of what you recommend but now I will wash in WARM water. Thanks! Now, the Polish people wax eggs that are going to be stored. Does anybody on the team know whether that works? I washed and stored about 75 eggs last year. I don't have many people living here and we don't use them very quickly. They turned out to all be dried out! I wonder about waxing them. Thanks

I believe they coated them with castor oil way back. I am sure you can search this out. It would reseal the egg for long term storage. Also remember, 140 years or so ago, their were no refrigerators (ice boxes were used if u could afford one). Also remember a lot of people still don't, or are going off grid, have no refrigeration.

 

[Old Philosopher]

I don't wash my eggs until they are transferred from my storage refrigerator to my kitchen 'fridge, unless they have obvious feces or dried egg (from an egg broken in the nesting box) on them.
We have had no problem storing chicken eggs around 6 months over the winter, and duck eggs upwards to a year.
One very important consideration: If you store your eggs in a frost-free refrigerator, the evaporation mechanism that prevents frost in your freezer will desiccate the eggs in a relatively short time. 2-3 months max under those conditions.

 

[FrancesR]

don't wash them in cold water. The bacteria on the outside of the egg want to be warm, so if you wash it in cold water the bacteria will move into the middle of the egg, and if you eat it you could get sick. Wash in warm water only if you need to wash, if you can, wipe the egg with a dry paper towel. i store mine on the counter. Before the egg is laid, the hen coats the egg with a protective coating called the bloom. It keeps bacteria from entering the egg, so you can store it on the counter, but washing the egg (in warm or cold water) removes the coating and then they need to go in the fridge.

That's almost correct......bacteria don't have the ability to want anything. The mechanism is a thermodynamic operation in the difference of temperatures between the egg and the washing water. If the water is colder than the egg, the reduced temperature will cause contraction of the egg which will draw the impurities on the outer shell through the shell pores. If the water is warmer than the egg, the impurities stay outside the shell and are safely rinsed away.

 

[Dawnclucks22]

I put mine in the refrigerator but only wash them if they have poo/dirt on them. Unwashed eggs do not need to be refrigerated for up to three weeks (the time it would take for an egg to hatch) because they have a special anti-bacterial covering that gets washed off with the water, but it's up to you.

 

[FrancesR]

I don't want to be rude on my first day here but I have to say this. Regarding eggs coming out of the same hole as poop, I'd say you are as far off as my 9th grade Human Biology teacher who said that women urinate through their vaginas!!!! Chickens lay eggs through their oviduct and not their rectums! (I apologize if I offended anyone!)

clo·a·ca
klōˈākə/
noun
Zoology
noun: cloaca; plural noun: cloacae
a common cavity at the end of the digestive tract for the release of both excretory and genital products in vertebrates (except most mammals) and certain invertebrates. Specifically, the cloaca is present in birds, reptiles, amphibians, most fish, and monotremes.

 

[FrancesR]

In animal anatomy, a cloaca /kloʊˈeɪkə/ kloh-AY-kə (plural cloacae /kloʊˈeɪsi/ kloh-AY-see or /kloʊˈeɪki/ kloh-AY-kee) is the posterior orifice that serves as the only opening for the digestive, reproductive, and urinary tracts (if present) of certain animals, opening at the vent. All amphibians, birds, reptiles, and a few mammals (monotremes, tenrecs, golden moles, and marsupial moles) have this orifice, from which they excrete both urine and feces; this is in contrast to most placental mammals, which have two or three separate orifices for evacuation.

 

[Old Philosopher]

That's almost correct......bacteria don't have the ability to want anything. The mechanism is a thermodynamic operation in the difference of temperatures between the egg and the washing water. If the water is colder than the egg, the reduced temperature will cause contraction of the egg which will draw the impurities on the outer shell through the shell pores. If the water is warmer than the egg, the impurities stay outside the shell and are safely rinsed away.

Rather than just warm water (which is way better than cold), the wash water should be as hot as you can stand it. Commercially, eggs are washed/rinsed in 160-180 deg F water. Most home water heaters are set around 125 F, which is plenty hot enough to avoid the interior of the egg from contracting, even though it's not hot enough to disinfect. In any case, keep your washing time under the hot water to a minimum.
To address another comment, "back in the day" washed eggs were re-coated with "water glass". You can use glycerine (Glyserol) if you must, but personally I avoid mineral oil (which you often see recommended) because it is petroleum based.