Does rinsing/cleaning eggs affect them negatively?

[ellie97]

So, my hens sometimes lay dirty eggs, and when my youngsters start laying, I am going to sell the eggs, so they need to be clean. I heard somewhere, however, that when eggs are washed, the egg soaks up the moisture and ruins the shell/outer layer of the egg? I've never tried washing eggs besides right before eating them, so I've never had the problem, but I need to know if this is true. So the question is, is it alright for an egg to be washed with just water then not eaten for several days? Thanks!

 

[Imp]

Quote:
The shells are not ruined by washing. I always wash my eggs and put in the fridge. Make sure you wash with warm water; cold is said to cause the inside of the egg to contract and possibly pull stuff outside the shell into the egg.

Imp

 

[Cindy in PA]

Washing them does take the bloom off so they do not keep as long. Probably won't notice a difference though. I dry clean the spots on my eggs with a srubbie pad. Some people use sand paper. This gets most eggs clean without washing. If they are really dirty, I use them myself.

Edited because I can't spell!

 

[puredelite]

Washing eggs is suppose to remove the coating that keeps them fresher longer, but certainly makes the egg more appealing to the customer. I find that mud or crud does tend to stain the egg shell after washing if they are very dirty so we just use those at home. I don't use washed eggs for hatching purposes, most times dirty eggs hatch just fine. Duck and goose eggs are often covered with dried mud and still hatch.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

A washed egg may only store in the refrigerator for just four months rather than the six months an unwashed egg will keep. Other than that it doesn't affect a thing.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Washing does remove the bloom from an egg. The bloom helps eggs to stay fresher, longer. It helps keep moisture from evaporating out of the egg and bacteria from entering the egg. When I need to wash an egg because it's dirty, I just use it sooner. Sometimes I store a few more eggs than usual, going into the fall molt or the spring broody season. Those are clean unwashed eggs, with the bloom on.

Customers should be using their eggs up quite soon, so I wouldn't worry about washing the bloom off of customers' eggs. They should be getting clean eggs when they buy eggs.

I also wouldn't worry about it for individuals that are using their eggs right away. It's really only an issue if you're doing long term storage. Some people don't use supplemental lighting with their chickens in winter and they'd be a prime group to want to store more eggs going into winter.

To keep eggs cleaner, I try to not have the nest boxes right next to the pop door and have sand in the run, in the areas that don't have plants growing. The part of the run next to the coop is also roofed. All this tends to keep their feet a little less muddy. I'm also careful to not have the area under the roosts be a traffic area, to keep them from walking through a lot of poop. In a small coop, it can be hard to fit everything in and I'd use a poop board if that was an issue.

For deep litter, instead of putting in really thick layers of litter and stirring more often, I top dress with thin layers of clean shavings more often. This means that there is a layer of clean shavings on top much more of the time. I also focus my top dressing of shavings in the areas that need it most, rather than the entire coop. I think this also keeps their feet cleaner.

Most of the eggs I collect are clean, although when it's the mud season, some are muddy. Once in awhile I get poop on an egg, too. It happens. I love days when they're all clean.

 

[ellie97]

Thanks so much guys! That's super helpful!

 

[MareeZoCool]

I feed my hens raw oatmeal daily. This seems to help keep them laying nice clean eggs.

 

[The Tinman]

Dirty eggs are washed,boiled and fed back to the chickens.