How do you clean soiled eggs???

[tumra]

Im still having alot of problems with my chicks dying in their eggs due to being too bloody and not being able to complete the hatching process, so i am thinking that it maybe caused by a bacterial problem from the dried poo on some of the eggs. What is the best way to clean eggs. I know you are not supposed to use water as it removes the protective outer coating and the water may push in the bacteria into the egg through the porous shell. Currently i wipe of wet poo with a tissue, though the dried stuff is a bit more stuborn.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

Anthony

 

[monarc23]

Hi Anthony,
I don't clean my eggs at all, but this is because my eggs aren't dirty to begin with at the most they have dried food dust stuck to them i just lightly brush off with my finger. So IMO your best bet would be (if you can) to remove what ever is causing your birds to dirty the eggs in the first place.

My main pen that houses my goldens and browns they lay mostly in the inner part (solid floor) however the only thing that's on the floor is their feed and I honestly think that that is what keeps the eggs clean as they barely ever poo where i pour in their feed. And in my other pens the birds just lay right on the wire and the only issues I have with that is some of the eggs get chipped from time to time and are pitched, given to my cats or cooked up

So i dunno how you have your birds housed but if you can omit the issue of htem getting dirty in the first place i think that would be your best bet. Their shells are so thin that cleaning them really may kill them as well.

Have you cleaned your incubator out entirely? that was what was causing issues iwht some of my hatches (not with my quail though) just a thought

I was stupid and didnt realize just how much of an effect egg shell peices have on the health of an incubator....oh well ya live and ya learn!!!

They say rubbing sand delicatley over eggs works though!

 

[tumra]

Hi Monarc,

I have my breaders on wire floor but i think the mesh size is a bit small (6mm) so i think most of the poo gets stuck to the flooring. I was told that size was ideal as it limits the quails feet from getting stuck and damaged in the mesh.

I have build a little wooden box and most times, the quails go in there and lay their eggs, and this is where the most of the wet poo sticks to the eggs. I have tried to put bedding in the box (grass cuttings, straw etc) but they kick it all out of the box.

With my incubator, i clean it by first removing all the egg shells etc from the incubator and then i wipe down the entire surface of the machine with some methylated spirits to kill any bacteria. Is thisk enough? or should i be doing more?

Thanks for your help.

 

[monarc23]

Quote:
that does sound like it can be a bit small the biggest i have had my birds on is half an inch but no bigger than that (for adults). Your birdies sound messy though! haha! Yeah i used to put aspen shavings in their inner part but theres no reason, they always kick it out

lol

as for that methylated spirits if it kills bacteria it should be good enough! I can't way i've ever heard of that stuff before so I can't say for sure haha! Im sure it's fine though.

 

[tumra]

Methylated spirits is sort of a bacterial disenfectant not sure if it is enough though to properly sanitise the incubator.

http://better4savings.com/sitebuild.../webassets/180px-MethylatedSpirits_bottle.jpg

Thanks for your help.

 

[shelleyd2008]

One thing you could do is put a dust bath pan in there, for them to keep all the time. I keep mine in my quails' cages, and this is where they always lay. Most times there is just some sand stuck to the eggs, no poo.

However, you can clean eggs, though I'm not sure how effective it would be on quail. For chicken eggs, you can run the egg under warm tap water and wipe clean. Then pop it into a warm, ready bator. What brings the bacteria inside the egg is when you use cold water, as this would cause the shell (egg, whatever) to contract, pulling the bacteria in. Just make sure the water you use is warmer than the temp of the egg, and you should be fine.

But I don't think that is what is causing your problem. If that were the case, I would think you would have a lot of deaths in the early part of incubation, like >7 days

 

[kingmt]

I haven't read the whole post yet but I use hydrogen Peroxide.

 

[monarc23]

Quote:
thanks to a really nice guy I use hydrogen peroxide on dirty eggs (sent to me) and in my incubator as well. seems to work just fine and dandy!

eta: i use it only for chicken eggs tho, I just have a bad feeling about using anything on quail eggs it just seems like it might hurt them im probably wrong though

 

[kingmt]

Even with my very limited knowledge of quail I would have to say that it would be perfectly safe. I use it for almost everything. When we were kids we used it as a mouthwash all tho very nasty tasting it never made us sick. You can buy it at some of the Walmarts for $3 a gallon. It is with the Chlorine bleach & I think it says Free & Clear bleach. It is already about the right strength for spot cleaning.

 

[monarc23]

Quote:
i still use it for mouth wash at times that stuff is perfecto multipurpose! LOL!