Poopy eggs

[Waskoneto]

My broody momma pooped on her eggs!! I realize now that I need to lift her off the nest occasionally but what about the poopy eggs??? Are they salvageable?? Can I clean them off? Should I incubate them or let her keep going?

She has plenty of room in her enclosure to get up, wander around and do her business... She just chooses not to.

 

[Lizzy733]

How poopy is poopy and how far along are they? Are all the eggs soiled, or only a few? If it was a really wet poop and early on, I'd be a bit concerned as that will break the bloom and potentially let in bacteria.

 

[sourland]

I would be tempted to gently dry/clean the eggs and replace the bedding in her nest site. Always keep feed and water a distance from the nest so that setting birds have to get up and leave the nest to eat and drink.

 

[Waskoneto]

I'd say about half are soiled in what was a wet poop that's now dry. This is only day 3 of her sitting on them. I messed up and put her food and water right next to the nest. I don't know what I was thinking! I've just heard that sometimes they won't eat or drink and I was worried about that so I moved them closer. So just use something like a dry wash cloth and get off what I can? Should I put the clean eggs into the incubator since I already have it set up and running?

 

[Lizzy733]

I'd let her keep the clean eggs and tidy up the soiled eggs into the incubator and candle them to see how things are going once they hit the week old mark. Pick clean what you can, but I'd avoid washing or scraping as you could inadvertently force bacteria into the pores. If they seem to be developing ok, maybe hand them back over once they've made the 10-14 day mark or so and are still developing.
I have to force my broody off the nest as she is really bad at taking care of herself.

 

[Waskoneto]

Thank you so much!! I'm going to do exactly that!!