Need help with first-time incubation

[RavenStorm]

I'm getting ready to try to incubate some Muscovy eggs, and I've never incubated anything before. My muskies reached sexual maturity in October, and I've been seeing bulls-eyes for a month now so I want to set a small batch and see. I just picked up a used Lyon TX-7 that I'm checking right now, but I have a question about the eggs themselves.

I know the chick hatchers all have their own opinion about preping the eggs. To wash or not to wash? To sanitize or to leave dirty? I want to get the input for duck eggs for you guys. The eggs I want to put in are really dirty. We had some rain and the nest boxes for muddy and poop-y and the ick dried onto the eggs. There is no way I can "gently" brush the mess off; it's going to have to be washed thoroughly if it needs to come off. Any advice?

 

[duckyfromoz]

I have only set muscovy eggs once- so dont have multiple settings to make comparisons- But as with all duck eggs, I set them lying down on their sides rather than upright in a turning.

I assume you know about the temp and humidity- and the 35 day length of incubation- and stop turning and increase humidity at day 32. As far as the dirty eggs go- If I ever want to set an egg from a specific duck that is dirty- rather than discard it and wait for more- I use a very fine sandpaper to remove as much of the mud as i can. I then slighly dampen a cloth- and the egg ( room temp water so its not colder or warm than the egg ) and gently rub of the remaining dirt.

Best of luck with those eggs.