Do you save eggs for incubation that have been rained on? Sometimes they have just been lying on the wet ground. Should I throw them out or go ahead and incubate them? They are bobwhite quail eggs. I gather them every evening but when it rains in the middle of the day they get wet.
The hatchability would maybe be lower if they are nasty, and they could harbor disease in the incubator. If you dont have qualms with that, set them! If they are just a little damp, I would dry them off. But if they were laying in pools of water, I would pitch them.
Personally, if you wanted to set them, I would wash them with Brinsea's egg wash/incubator disinfectant. I just hatched a batch of eggs and got over 60 to hatch, I was really happy, they were popping out like popcorn. I wanted to experiment and see. I was all stressed out about some goose eggs I got from ebay that came smeared with feces bigtime. So, as an experiment, I washed all of the quail eggs in the Brinsea solution. I followed their directions exactly except that I lowered the water temp 5 degrees to 105 (Brinsea say to use 110 degree water) -- I did this because I was concerned that quail eggs, being so small, might be more likely to be damaged be the hot water faster than a larger egg with more thermal mass. Egg washing is so controversial. I just wanted to see if it would help, hurt, or whatever. I think it certainly didn't hurt, and may have helped. I know that I won't be afraid to wash and set soiled eggs after this experience. http://www.brinsea.com/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=28
Quote:Boy Howdy, don't I know it!!! Been Googlin' for about 3 weeks now on that one subject, and it's AMAZING how split the opinions are. Oh well, I just set 185 Geogia Giant eggs, and most had a degree of poop on them. I washed every dedgum one of'em under ultra-warm water and a Scotch Brite pad. I just had to see for myself what that does, and will deviate from that method according to results. I didn't use any bleach in the process because the chlorine level in our community water ranks up there amongst swimmin' pool standards. Thanks for your report!
If the eggs get wet I just let them air dry then incubate them. As long as they aren't laying in a puddle of water (which will make them absorb the water and crack) they will be fine. I had some ducks last year that would lay their eggs so close to the edge of the creek that the eggs would roll in the water. If they weren't cracked when I found them I'd put them in the incubator. Most of the eggs hatched.
