Hatching Dirty eggs

[SeaHen]

I wish I had known how to clean them before incubating too. Last month I bought 6 Silkie eggs through ebay that were not well packaged. On arrival one egg was crushed and the others were covered in dried yolk. Three eggs never developed; one chick made it to internal pipping and died, and the last one hatched and died 24 hours later. So heartbreaking. Now I'm incubating Cream Legbar eggs from a local seller and one of them is filthy - covered in dirt and dried feces. I brushed off what I could but am frankly worried. Oddly enough though, this egg so far is developing on schedule while a couple of the others are not.

Darn I’ve already set them in the bator. I cleaned them off as much as I could so I’m hoping for the best. Thank you for the advice. Now that I know I can sanitize eggs I’ll be doing that from now on!

 

[CindyinSD]

A couple months ago I ordered 8 Welsh Harlequin eggs. All were very dirty. Holderread recommends washing with warm water and so I did that. Four eggs started developing and four hatched. All survived. Of the remaining four, one was cracked and three remained clear. So... I’m happy. Washing doesn’t seem to have done them any harm.

 

[SeaHen]

I do think Dave Holderread is THE authority on waterfowl. I've consulted with him in the past about perplexing situations with my ducks and geese and he's been very helpful. So - if he recommends it I would believe it.

 

[GuineaFowling]

Update on the eggs. It’s currently day 12 and I’ve candled them for the second time now. Of the Ameraucana eggs, only one is alive. The others are either duds or (2) did not make it. It seems only a few were fertile so I’m pretty bummed. 75% of the eggs from the other breeder are still alive and doing well which is great for shipped eggs.