Rinsing vs Washing

[Happy Chick Home]

Hi again folks. I love having my chickens and love ve that you are all here helping me. Now I hope to sell eggs and am working hard to get it right. I've learned that in my area eggs from small backyard flocks sold to friends / neighbors do not need to follow the same procedures as large volume sellers (ie, grocery stores.)
I notice that urine sitting on the shell will eat away some of the bloom. (My actual observation is that under the urine the bloom is lighter in color.) I hope to sell fresh, unwashed eggs, bloom intact, from very well fed hens.
I read that the major debris should be removed before selling eggs and I don't like giving poopy eggs to people anyway.
Question is what constitutes washing? Can I soak off dried poop in cool water? The color remains uniform on the shell when I do this.
If that is not washing what is washing?

 

[MysteryChicken]

Hi again folks. I love having my chickens and love ve that you are all here helping me. Now I hope to sell eggs and am working hard to get it right. I've learned that in my area eggs from small backyard flocks sold to friends / neighbors do not need to follow the same procedures as large volume sellers (ie, grocery stores.)
I notice that urine sitting on the shell will eat away some of the bloom. (My actual observation is that under the urine the bloom is lighter in color.) I hope to sell fresh, unwashed eggs, bloom intact, from very well fed hens.
I read that the major debris should be removed before selling eggs and I don't like giving poopy eggs to people anyway.
Question is what constitutes washing? Can I soak off dried poop in cool water? The color remains uniform on the shell when I do this.
If that is not washing what is washing?

I gently wash my eggs in either warm, or cold water. Most of my eggs just need a rinse, rather then an actual washing.
Afterwards they'll need to be refrigerated.
I gently wash, so the bloom remains intact. Also will still be hatchable, even when refrigerated if that's the intention.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If you wash the eggs the water needs to be a little warmer than the eggs. If the wash water is cooler than the eggs that can cause the air in the air sac to shrink which caused a suction on the egg. Dirty wash water may be sucked into the egg, contaminating it. If the wash water is warmer than the egg, that air swells and keeps dirty water out.

If you wash the eggs or sandpaper them to remove dirt or debris you remove the bloom so the eggs have to be refrigerated. Commercial operations do that so the eggs are clean. Commercial eggs need to be refrigerated.

I don't. Any eggs I give away still have the bloom intact. So I only give away eggs that do not need to be washed. I store these on the kitchen counter. If I need to wash an egg I refrigerate it and eat it myself.

 

[Folly's place]

I wash all eggs not meant to be incubated, and then refrigerate them. Really filthy eggs I throw out, or any egg that's been missed out there. Secret nesting sites are a pain!
Keeping fresh bedding in the nest boxes makes a big difference, as does cleaner bedding. Also birds with feathered legs bring more 'stuff' to the nest boxes.
Mary