Eggs what do you do if they are dirty and how dirty is acceptable? Maybe you could show me your eggs you collect?

[Bsmac]

I have found that if I change bedding ( pine shavings )in our covered run once a month and scoop up poop a couple times daily our eggs seldom have any dirt / poop on them. If any just a tiny spot or two. I use a green 3M green pad to clean them (dry). I also use pine shavings in the coop with poop boards. I usually only have to change coop bedding spring and fall. Most times I can get a dozen eggs and not have to clean any of them! But you have to be diligent about scooping up poop every day! We are retired so I have the time!

 

[Bsmac]

10 today 0 spots of dirt!

 

[Kabraham54]

I have switched to artificial turf in my nest boxes. It’s super easy to keep clean, the eggs pretty much “float” on the bristles, the chickens don’t seem to mind it, it lasts a long time, and you don’t end up with shavings or straw pieces all over the place. Once in a while a poop will be on the turf, but they usually just shake off for a quick tidy-up. The eggs stay cleaner than before I switched.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Ooh! Where do you get that?

 

[Kabraham54]

Ooh! Where do you get that?

Ace Hardware, in my case. I’m sure any of the big box hardware stores would have it. I got a few artificial turf door mats and cut them to fit. Super easy.

 

[GreenMum]

I have the same issue with my yard, it seems to just hold the water. It can be treacherous navigating it in the spring. And the eggs during that mucky time were especially disgusting covered in mud and obviously poop. The yard is something that we have to just deal with here as it’s not our yard and we do the best we can cultivating it as soon as it can be worked to help with drainage and adding things like wood chips to help with aeration etc. As for the eggs… I used to wash those in the spring in a dilute bleach solution which did give me some peace of mind that any lingering bacteria would be killed. But it was not ideal. This year, my flock got mites and I ended up taking out the nesting box closest to the entrance. Now the girls have to walk across the perch area with all the shavings on the floor and I have to say I am pleasantly surprised how clean the eggs are now! When I had the nesting box right by the entrance the only way I’d get a perfectly clean egg was if I happened to be right there when it was laid. Now I’m gathering multiples and they are all clean.

 

[GreenMum]

This is true for my flock too. Sometimes very poopy eggs, MUCH dirtier than the ones in the picture, are feed back to my flock if I don't feel like cleaning them that day. When I have one of these eggs, I bring it into the run and everyone gathers around. If I throw the egg to the ground and it doesn't break, all the chickens stare at the egg and then at me as if to say "why are you throwing our eggs around Mom?" If I throw the egg again and it breaks, they turn into a school of piranha, devouring the egg in seconds. Only broken eggs are consumed. Even shell less eggs are left alone if they are intact.
We refrigerate all eggs unwashed unless they are pretty dirty. If dirty, we rinse them off in water warmer than the egg before refrigerating. We do rinse eggs before using.

We get some flooding from heavy rains and wind driven flooding. I would not recommend gravel or sand. The poop will not break down and the gravel will start to reek. We had sand in our original set up. After two years, it smelled so bad we had to remove it. We spread it out on the driveway and it continued to smell for months

When we moved to where we are now, the coop was set up with sand. I had heard tons of rave reviews about it so I thought it would be ok. It was not a great experience. It had to be poop sifted every day and I was informed that once a month the sand needed to be removed and replaced with fresh - like a kitty litter. Replacing the sand was a full day event, very labour intensive, and cost $75 a pop. And the smell…my god the smell. It was not worth it to me. Pine shavings have a lovely fresh scent that I enjoy and since the mites issue I discovered adding dried herbs to the shavings as well. Now it just smells lovely in there

 

[Demarvell]

I sometimes get really dirty eggs and I just throw them in the compost and im continuously adding shavings and cleaning out their nesting boxes and it was really nice when we had a drought i mean I didn't like it for the garden but for the chickens and ducks it was really nice and now im stressed out bc I want to add horse bedding pellets, I have added hay, and grass and its gotten a crust layer on top of the dirt and it was mud for a while and squishy and I've added logs for them to be on and we've dug trenches for the w a tee but we have such flat land it doesn't really go anywhere. When it rains we get so much flooding like in pockets of the yard. I wanna add gravel and all sorts of stuff mulch and we'll I know that will help I just need more advice besides are these eggs okay if they are a little dirty to wash in with vinegar spray and wash cloth bc sometimes I cant get papertowels like I want.. these are the ones I was going to feed back to the chickens bc I cant stand the dirty ones anymore I used to see if I could save them and I just felt like I was spending so much time to clean them sonibquitndoing that and now they wait for me to throw them egg treats, like they know they have eggs in their nesting box when I go to collect eggs. I have ducks and one turkey. I cant some times collect duck eggs bc they look so dirty im just like I cant..

If you can't wipe off the dirt, just wash them and put them in the refrigerator.

 

[driver8045]

I sometimes get really dirty eggs and I just throw them in the compost and im continuously adding shavings and cleaning out their nesting boxes and it was really nice when we had a drought i mean I didn't like it for the garden but for the chickens and ducks it was really nice and now im stressed out bc I want to add horse bedding pellets, I have added hay, and grass and its gotten a crust layer on top of the dirt and it was mud for a while and squishy and I've added logs for them to be on and we've dug trenches for the w a tee but we have such flat land it doesn't really go anywhere. When it rains we get so much flooding like in pockets of the yard. I wanna add gravel and all sorts of stuff mulch and we'll I know that will help I just need more advice besides are these eggs okay if they are a little dirty to wash in with vinegar spray and wash cloth bc sometimes I cant get papertowels like I want.. these are the ones I was going to feed back to the chickens bc I cant stand the dirty ones anymore I used to see if I could save them and I just felt like I was spending so much time to clean them sonibquitndoing that and now they wait for me to throw them egg treats, like they know they have eggs in their nesting box when I go to collect eggs. I have ducks and one turkey. I cant some times collect duck eggs bc they look so dirty im just like I cant..

Your birds may need to be dewormed

 

[CochinLady61]

I put my eggs in an old egg carton on the counter. Once the carton is full, then it gets moved into the refrigerator.

I only wash the eggs I sell as I sell them. I use a scrubby made of nylon netting. I just put then under slow running water in medium temperature while I use the scrubby. The scrubby gets run through the dishwasher on occasion if I have had a bunch of really grungy eggs.

I have been having very good luck with sand in my nestboxes. That way the sand is easily brushed off, and the eggs seem to stay much cleaner.

I also use sand in the coop, but have a grass and dirt run that they use. The sand in the dry coop seems to help clean off their feet better.

I have found that 3/4 to 1" of sand in the bottom of the coop works easiest for raking it clean. (I have 1 coop where I put 3 to 4" of sand, and it is harder work to keep it clean, so I am working to keep it clean by removing sand and etc. both.