Post here if you DON'T wash clean-looking eggs

[ChickInDelight]

Perhaps my anatomy lessons are quite old, but I thought chickens had a single opening from thier body to release both eggs and poo. It is possible for poo to pass back upward, and the egg passes thru the poo zone when laid.

I also would like to see a poll where all answers are collected - not just the non-washers.

I now think I was totally told wrong and have been washing with hot water to get the egg to expel impurities from inside.

 

[gritsar]

I can't recall where I read it, probably on a university website but it explained the whole egglaying process. The egg starts out coming down the egg chute in one direction and then flips partway down. In the process, the poop chute is closed off. This prevents poo from coming out at the same time as the egg avoiding contamination. However, it is possible for a hen to have a weak "flap" and some poo is expelled at the same time. I have a hen like that.

Forgive the simple terms but I am very tired and my brain is in neutral.

 

[DawnCols]

I scrape off any visible soil when I collect the eggs. I save washing for right before cooking--but don't always wash if it seems clean. Most of my management is keeping a clean spot for the girls to lay in. Works pretty well for me.

From what I learned in Microbiology class, I feel better about this than how storebought eggs are handled.

 

[gale65]

I think I posted this somewhere recently, but this shows how the thing the egg comes through goes inside out (sorta) which makes it somewhat of a barrier between the egg chute and the other chute.

http://www.afn.org/~poultry/egghen.htm

After thinking about it some more it kind of reminds me of a gasket of some sort.

 

[gale65]

Quote:
If you do a search I think there have been polls of all opinions. I just posted this because I was hoping to single out the non-washers to see how many there are.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

My friend told me she wouldn't eat my eggs because they come out of the chickens butt. She prefers store bought eggs instead. Apparently those come out of a refrigerator.

 

[LawChick]

Okay, I started out not washing any eggs until they were ready to use. Then I switched and started washing all the eggs with water as I collected them, because further reading convinced me that it really doesn't make that much difference to the freshness of the egg. Now I'm thinking I should go back to not washing them. It'll be better after I redesign my coop. The guy who built it knew nothing about chicken psychology, so my birds roost where they are supposed to lay, and lay where they have roosted, unfortunately. It makes for some pretty poopy eggs.

 

[tmiller42]

Quote:
That may be one of the funniest (and most ridiculous) things I've ever heard. The ignorance of some people regarding food is just unbelievable.
I only wash eggs that need it. If a little dirt or poo can be scraped off or rubbed off with a dry scratchie pad, I'll do that first. If it's one the family is going to eat, I'm much less likely to clean it at all since I prefer to trust the natural bloom barrier. But since we sell most of our eggs to customers, I do clean them.

 

[kaybats]

Quote:
X 2

 

[mychoock]

Quote:
Okay that is up there with funniest comments in the world.
I never wash eggs except a rarely dirty one, just before cooking. I keep the nest boxes clean.