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

[nannacathyab]

You are actually doing more harm than good if you wash clean freshly laid eggs. Nature's protection, we call the "bloom" , is water soluble. So washing removes it. The shell is porous, so it then can absorb odors and tastes. But if an egg has gotten moist from something, say "poo"....then the bloom has been compromised anyway. If the egg is freshly laid, wash and use immediately. If it has set awhile dispose of it.

So to answer your question......no and yes!

 

[M.sue]

Every once in a while I'll find a stray egg someplace, in the yard, in the pen. I dispose of those for I actually don't know how long they've been laying there. It might of been there for 1 hour maybe 5. My grandfather never washed his eggs for the same reasons you've stated, just brushed off any dirt and I don't either unless they are muddy or have a little poo on them......and then I keep those for my self anyway.

 

[the Precious Ladies]

I never wash my eggs

 

[CarolAnn53]

I am so new at raising chickens I don't even know what kind I have other than by 'color' 2 black, 2 white 2 "banny hens" 4 black and white stripes! Anyway, I don't wash them now, because the first time I did, I found it was sticky and figured that just wasn't a good thing to do. Since I have 9 hens and 1 rooster, I get about 3 to 4 eggs a day. I just wipe off the poo if there is any - and pop them in the fridge.

 

[ozark hen]

Quote:
Welcome from Missouri!! Sounds like you are off to a good start. Using your own good common sense! I wasn't familiar with my chickens when I started either. I can tell you what I have but still don't know lots of birds since I don't own any.

 

[singer]

I put my eggs right in the frig. Then when I use them, I rinse them under water for a second. I tell all who I give them to not to wash them until just before using, to keep the protective coating on them.

 

[jtrknit]

Weighing in on the egg washing debate--I only wash them if they were laid on the floor and got into the poop. Which doesn't happen often. Clean nests and twice daily pick up gives me clean eggs.

 

[TheWaddler]

Quote:
What is awhile tho? I do not refrigerate my eggs because I do not pasteurize them, neither does the rest of the world, only Americans refrigerate eggs I have been told. In nature the hen doesn't lay eggs every day or even every other day so how are the eggs supposed to stay in good enough shape until she gets a clutch of eggs to sit on?

Disclaimer:NOT recommending this for everyone but don't be to hasty in your egg tossing. I have personally eaten a 4 week old (at least) egg off of my counter and it smelled and tasted the same as all the others. I have also eaten eggs found in the yard that sat there for at least a week in 105 degree weather, I know it was there that long at least because there was 18 eggs in the clutch and had 4-5 hens that were laying at the time and only one of them, the leghorn is a daily layer. Several people ate those eggs without any problems and the eggs were great. I have also cracked eggs that sat in the nest box for 22+ days that weren't fertile and when I cracked them open to see what was up they had no smell to them even tho the yolk had popped and the inside was a big yellow blob.

Eggs have incredible staying power

 

[simplysophie]

We never do.... and here I am!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I only wash if they're muddy or poopy. When it rains a lot my chickens don't use their door mats to wipe their feet before going in the nest.