Egg sterilizing

[VicR]

I'm new to incubating and read something about sterilizing the eggs prior to incubating. Do any of you guys do this? If so whats your process and what product do you use? Thanks!

 

[Mosey2003]

I do. It's sanitizing, not sterilizing, you won't get them sterile (nor do you want to try).

I use a mixture of half water and half original gold Listerine. If the eggs are cool when collected (like now) I spray them with the mixture that has been sitting at room temperature in my basement. If the eggs are hot when collected, sometimes I'll mix up fresh with the hottest tap water I can get.

Many refuse to get hatching eggs wet, ever. Myself, I refuse to set dirty, unsanitized eggs, ever. If my eggs are dirty, I'll run them under hot tap water until the dirt comes off with a gentle touch, and then dip in sanitizer. I have never had a hatch suffer in any meaningful way by doing this, the bloom is not as easy to wash off as some think, generally.

By doing this, I have never had an egg come anywhere near exploding inside my incubator, and I have improved hatch rates. The only time I had anything near rotten eggs was when I sat some straight from under a broody for my friend, against my better judgment. If she ever asks again, they'll get washed no matter what. Now, half-incubated broody eggs may suffer more from washing, but I feel like it's an unreasonable request to begin with, so I don't really mind a poor hatch in that situation.

 

[chickens really]

I do absolutely nothing to my eggs. Momma hens don't either..