Eggs look splashed--dirty & wet

[LadyGagasAuntie]

Hi all!

For about a month now, all the eggs I collect from the ladies' nesting box look "splashed" --they have dirty spots on them, either dried up or they are sometimes still wet when I collect them. (5 hens choose to use the same box). I'll occasionally put fresh straw into the box on top of the old straw and it still keeps happening. We use the deep litter method in the coop. It's so rare that I get a clean egg. I've been tossing them all out because I'm not sure what's on them or how to properly clean them! Help?

 

[azygous]

Lots of reasons for dirty eggs. One is hens sleeping and pooping in the nest boxes. Solution: block off nests at night.

Another is filthy butt feathers. Solution: wash butts regularly.

Another is a poop littered coop and hens are picking up poop on feet before entering a nest to lay. As they finish, they often deposit poop from dirty feet onto the still wet egg. Solution: clean coop regularly.

The last one isn't as common, but many flocks have one of these. It's a hen whose body doesn't close off the poop chute completely as the egg is being laid and poop gets deposited on the egg as it's being laid. I have one hen that does this quite regularly.

I would say that, in spite of my fastidious housekeeping, poop regularly soils about a fourth of the eggs I collect. I wash those by gently soaking in plain cool water for about two minutes, then rinsing the egg under the faucet in cool water. No need to toss the eggs as long as you do not plan to eat them raw.

 

[aart]

Great post above on cause and solutions...
...but I have to disagree with washing in cool water.

Eggs should be washed in 'water warmer than the egg'.
Simple physics, using colder water will cause the egg contents to contract, causing any 'germs' on exterior surface of egg shell to be pulled into the interior of egg thru the shell pores. Using warmer water will do the opposite.


Welcome to BYC! @LadyGagasAuntie
Those eggs don't look that dirty, have had much worse here.
Looks like dirty feet to me...strive for drier bedding in and out of the coop.
Putting fake eggs in all nests might spread the love.