Lost 4 Eggs to Mold

[Zelda2121]

Hi guys! This is my second time hatching/incubating. Now from what I have heard if you wash the egg it loses the special coating the hen puts on it. Then bacteria can grow in it. It did rain before I got the eggs so did the coating wash off? And is that why I lost 4 to bacteria? My hen also doesn't sit on her eggs for some reason. Thank you so much!!

 

[SunHwaKwon]

I don't believe so. I found a clutch of 45 guinea eggs in the farm field next to us (they like to hide their nests). It was not a shared nest. We had had many hot days as well as heavy rains during the time the eggs were laid but over half still hatched. They were all from one hen. IIRC none had bacterial growth.

Oddly, the only eggs I have had with bacterial intrusion were shipped eggs, but they weren't washed.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

PS you say mold in the thread title but mold and bacteria are two different things

 

[Chickiemom25]

did the eggs sit out in the rain? I am confused. My hen also wont sit on eggs consistently so I hatch in a 'bater and then slip the chicks in at night. I never wash eggs and don't have mold problems.

 

[lazy gardener]

Did you sterilize your bator before setting the eggs? How was your previous hatch? What day did they hatch, and what was your hatch rate?

A hen won't set if she's not broody. If she is laying eggs, she is not broody.

 

[oregonkat]

Hi guys! This is my second time hatching/incubating. Now from what I have heard if you wash the egg it loses the special coating the hen puts on it. Then bacteria can grow in it. It did rain before I got the eggs so did the coating wash off? And is that why I lost 4 to bacteria? My hen also doesn't sit on her eggs for some reason. Thank you so much!!

How did you come to the conclusion that bacterial infection was why you lost the chicks?

 

[Mosey2003]

Just getting wet will not wash off the bloom, you have to rub them to wash it off. I always sanitize mine, just don't scrub.

 

[Zelda2121]

How did you come to the conclusion that bacterial infection was why you lost the chicks?

They smelled terribly, they had dark green spots everywhere, and had no growth by day 16.