how to clean fertile eggs?

[ChickieBooBoo]

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Exactly, a broody knows what she is doing. People just worry too much about stuff that doesnt matter to the hen.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

The hen don't have a sterile incubator to keep clean ether.

 

[triplepurpose]

I think washing the eggs in your case would do more harm than good. A little dirt won't hurt anything. Your broody's going to be walking all over them for three weeks anyway. But like somebody else said, how dirty is dirty? If they're actually coated with filth to the point where the pores in the shell could be blocked (the shell needs to "breath"), or if the eggs were lying in a damp place, in which case I'd agree with just waiting for fresher cleaner eggs--it's not worth the risk working with potentially funky eggs.

Best of luck with your hatching! I just hatched some babies myself under a broody with fabulous results. Not to offend any of the incubator users out there (they definitely have their advantages in certain cases) but I just have throw this in and say it was a heck of a lot more successful (in terms of hatch rate and over-all chick health and vigor) than anything I've ever been able to do with a bator and much easier, once I figured out a good set up. Oh, and it was free...

Good luck!

 

[A.T. Hagan]

I've yet to hear of a commercial hatchery that does not sanitize their eggs.

All of my hatching eggs are washed and sanitized.

 

[ranchhand]

I use a medium grit sanding sponge to get the worst of it off and don't worry about it anymore than that for a broody.

 

[aceschix]

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