Getting Eggs Ready for Incubator?

[mrl8810]

I ordered some eggs from ebay for hatching...I have read on this forum to wipe off the eggs before putting them in the incubator with some peroxide...but when I received the eggs it had a paper inside with instructions to clean the eggs with bleach...I've never heard of this. I am cleaning the incubator following a video I found on BYC...do i need to clean the eggs with bleach or would i be okay just using a paper towel with peroxide and to wipe it off? Any other tips? I've had them since about 630 yesterday and have let them sit out in room temp and won't put them in the incubator until about 630. Any other tips would be appreciated as this is only my second hatch total. I'm always wanting to learn. Thanks in advanced

 

[MysteryChicken]

I ordered some eggs from ebay for hatching...I have read on this forum to wipe off the eggs before putting them in the incubator with some peroxide...but when I received the eggs it had a paper inside with instructions to clean the eggs with bleach...I've never heard of this. I am cleaning the incubator following a video I found on BYC...do i need to clean the eggs with bleach or would i be okay just using a paper towel with peroxide and to wipe it off? Any other tips? I've had them since about 630 yesterday and have let them sit out in room temp and won't put them in the incubator until about 630. Any other tips would be appreciated as this is only my second hatch total. I'm always wanting to learn. Thanks in advanced

I never wash my shipped hatching eggs with anything. Also all the hatching eggs I get through shipping come with instructions stating not to wash the eggs.

 

[FunClucks]

Most folks don't wash eggs, shipped or not. However, if you do want to clean them with something, I would NOT use bleach. Use peroxide. For my first hatch of 24 eggs in a NurtureRight 360 incubator, I cleaned the incubator with soap and water, wiped it with rubbing alcohol (it's hard plastic, not styrofoam), and dried it by running the incubator (fan on, 99.5F heating). I drenched my eggs in hydrogen peroxide, and used a microfiber cloth to scrub off any dirt, and rinsed them with hydrogen peroxide until they were clean. I placed them on a plate on top of a paper towel to dry some, and then when they were mostly dry set them in the incubator. THey finished drying there. I washed my hands prior to hand turning one of my eggs, or candling them, basically every time before I went into the incubator, I washed my hands, and if I didn't wash I would alcohol wipe them and the outside of the incubator. 21 out of 24 successfully hatched, and all developed. I used my own eggs, so they weren't shipped. I hear that commercially they use hydrogen peroxide to clean eggs prior to setting them.

I had a bunch of really dirty eggs due to the weather, and wanted to try and hatch them anyway. What I did worked well for me.