Keeping Duck Eggs Clean?!?! Anyway possible?

Rainstorm

Songster
10 Years
May 25, 2009
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Lake Placid FLorida
Im suppose to ship out 8 Cayuga test eggs monday and the darn ducks wont quit making a mess in their nest house!! The eggs get muddy and stained and I doubt the people who ordered them would appiciate me washing them most likely. How do you clean your eggs for shipping and how can I make the ducks quit making mudpies in their nest??

Edit: I use hay in the nest and within one DAY they have it caked
 
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Hi Rainstorm--Long time no "see." I have the same issue with my duck eggs, although I'm having pretty decent luck this season because they are hanging out outside and only going in the duck house to lay. They used to not lay in the house at all, but putting a few golf balls in there has encouraged them to use the nest nearly every time. They still manage to get the eggs muddy by digging down to the dirt and then covering the eggs (and golf ball, lol) in straw, but at least they're not also covered in mud.

But if yours are making messes in the nest boxes, then I don't really see how to fix that. Just understand that people who have hatched ducks before should expect that the eggs will be dirty. I would simply wipe off anything that comes off easily (do it right away before it dries on), and ship them as-is. Let the purchaser know ahead of time so they don't freak out. Just so you know, my hatch rates went up several percentage rates when I stopped washing the eggs. I hardly represent a scientifically significant sampling, given that I've only hatched about five batches of eggs, but I thought I'd mention it anyway.

Good luck, anyway!
 
My ducks do their best to bury, step on, roll around, shoot hoops with, Every. Single. Egg. They. Lay. I can completely strip the duck house and put in all fresh pine shavings, and the next day's eggs will still be filthy. It's just a habit that I've accepted I'll never break them of, and that I will never have clean eggs.

The good news is, I just candled 18 eggs at Day 5 of my first hatch, and all but one are developing exactly as they should. You can check back with me in 3 weeks or so, but thus far, as far as I can tell, rinsing the eggs off with warm water to set them hasn't affected them one bit. Also, in the Incubating forum, there's a thread from a poster who washed half her eggs prior to setting, and left the other half unwashed, and it made no difference in the success of her hatch. She's planning to run the same experiment over several more hatches, but preliminarily, it appears to make no difference.

I would just explain the situation to your hatching customer, and ask if they want you to wash the eggs or not.
 
I've been reading this thread because I had the same question.

In response to this I wanted to offer a bit of (unsolicited,lol) advice:

"Yes i know, but im not building savy and cant get anyone aorund here to help me to save anyones life. unless of course I wait about a year while continuely nagging them. So I make due with what I have. Hopefully after selling a few dozen of eggs and after the next swap ill be saved enough to get a guy that helped my cousin build her pen to builb me a new chicken pen with a small nest house for the ducks."

I just wanted to say that I used to feel the same way. However, out of desperation, I was forced to learn how to do some simple construction. It's amazing what you can learn by watching YouTube videos... Anyway, I would strongly encourage you to learn how to build some simple things, assuming you are physically able. It can be very empowering! In fact, nesting boxes are a great start!

I suggest looking online for a building materials salvage store near you. This and the dump, and the side of the road, and freecycle...are all good sources of free or cheap lumber. Then try local lumber suppliers. Let them know what you are building so they can suggest materials. Home Depot or Lowe's is always my last resort. You can often borrow tools you need, but I find that I use my drill and hand saw/ saw horses frequently enough to warrant owning my own.

Good luck!
 
No offense, as I appreciate your situation, but I'm not aware of any way to keep ducks-anything clean...putting a whole bale of hay in my pen might work for a day or two...

I've always been told not to wash shipped eggs...greater possibility of infection/fungus...

Yikes, ONE day...wow...can you elevate the nest at all? (Sorry, I've not propagated Ducks yet, only had them for around 9 months)
 
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HI! Thanks! Will do. and would it be OK to lightly dampen a cloth and wipe them? only gonna have 8 eggs before monday and 2 eggs had already dried by the time I got them today because I had to go pick up goslings from the PO this morning before I could collect them
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I gently wash (yes, wash) my eggs in warm water, using a very soft sponge w/antibacterial hand soap. Other than call duck eggs, I have been having great hatches! I also refrigerate my eggs. I hatch the old eggs and ship out the freshest ones. And STILL I have a good hatch. That stuff about "never wash hatching eggs" is bull-malarkey. Mine hatch just fine. I have many happy egg customers as well. Your eggs would be a lot cleaner when collected if you can elevate the nests a foot or 2. And change the hay/straw daily.
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Yes i know, but im not building savy and cant get anyone aorund here to help me to save anyones life. unless of course I wait about a year while continuely nagging them. So I make due with what I have. Hopefully after selling a few dozen of eggs and after the next swap ill be saved enough to get a guy that helped my cousin build her pen to builb me a new chicken pen with a small nest house for the ducks
 
I sell cayuga eggs too from our blacks and blues. I always just have to explain in my auctions or privately, which ever way they are sold, That in no way should they expect them to be clean pearly white eggs like chickens. With all the mud and mess stuck to their feet, it's just going to happen. That's why duck eggs have such a waxy feel to them. They are coated extra heavily to protect the embryo against any infection from this.
At this point most people understand. But all ground nesting species of waterfowl are going to have dirty eggs. I too use hay to help keep it to a minimum, but still.... They're ducks!
As for gently washing them, I dont advise it, the wax will help in some cases, but still a risky practice. Instead take a dry cloth and gently wipe off all the loose stuff and they'll be fine. Personally, I have hatched them purely caked in mud....
Just make sure your buyers are aware, most old seasoned ones do. It's the beginners that need to be informed of it, so there are no problems down the road
Aubrey
 

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