Incubating Eggs--Cleaning them

[crystal1957]

How do I clean the stains on blue eggs before I incubate or even pass them on to other folks to eat? Even after washing blue eggs, it sometimes looks like they have stains on them, but they are clean. It is a turn off for some people... I use dishwashing liquid with a teflon scouring pad, very gentle...I don't want to use anything like bleach or a strong chemical. The blue eggs really stain badly, especially if the girls are free ranging and we have had rain and they lay some eggs in the mud... Yipes. By the time I get to them in the early evening, the stains have set in and when I wash them, it looks as though I never did wash them

Help!!!

 

[ZooMummzy]

I can't really help you with the cleaning before eating them but I can tell you that you do not want to wash them before incubating. I just knock off what I can - caked mud, etc - and leave the rest. You don't want to get rid of the bloom. As for cleaning before eating or giving away, I don't. If they are really bad (we have a lot of mud here), I will run them under water only and rub them with my fingers. No one I've ever given or sold eggs to has a problem with this as they know fresh eggs keep better and longer if you don't wash them. I figure if they have a problem with dirty or stained eggs they really shouldn't be asking for them or buying them from a backyard farmer. They sell clean ones in the stores. Just my opinion

 

[Heluerto]

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Here here - what she said!

 

[HHandbasket]

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Unless you're eating the shell, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[broodytood]

So would I get lower hatches with dirty eggs? Just wondered cause I got a dozen from someone and they are dirty enough that I'm worried about using them. Sounds crude but should I try to scratch off as much as possible.(gently of course) Is that what you meant by knocking it off. Thanks!

 

[ZooMummzy]

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No, you'd get lower hatches with clean eggs (washed eggs). At least that is my understanding and what most people will tell you. I always get dirty eggs - at least a couple - but I just make sure there are no big chunks of anything on them. Dirt is fine, really. And yes, what HHandbasket said...they are fine.