Should I clean off dirty eggs before I start incubating?

[chicmom]

Hello! I just rec'd 18 hatching eggs in the mail......These eggs are kinda dirty. Should they be washed or cleaned before I incubate them? And if I should wash them, how do I do that?

Thank you!

 

[jvls1942]

wash them.. high humidity and poop make for a breeding ground for bacteria.. blume is over rated..

 

[AuroraSprings]

Now that I study egg cuticles for a living, I will be changing over to washing all of my duck eggs before hatching. The chicken eggs aren't usually terribly dirty, but ducks always choose mud over a clean nest - ALWAYS. It's ridiculous. Here's one of the articles that changed my mind - along with testing egg cuticle thickness and resilience myself:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22004811

 

[Bryam]

I can't' help myself! If an egg has poop on it I wash it off. They hatch just the same! Better than putting all that bacteria into the incubator!

I hope you have a great hatch! ☺

 

[britsngrits]

Do NOT wash the eggs before putting in the incubator or the bloom can be destroyed. If they are heavily soiled you can brush them off. I have put eggs in the incubator that had a bit of nest dirt on them/stains and they were just fine. Only remove what would easily come off by gently wiping with a scotch scrubbie... or a very fine gritt sand paper... gentle is the key!!!!

 

[Desert Rooster]

Quote:
x2

 

[Gypsy07]

Me personally, I would wash them. I sanitise my own eggs by dunking them in a hot dilute bleach solution and they hatch better than the ones I leave unwashed (as a control group)... All the big commercial hatcheries sanitise their hatching eggs and if it didn't give them better hatch rates they wouldn't be doing it.

 

[jvls1942]

usually running them under a faucet and rubbing them with your hands or a paper towel is enough.. I don't sanitize them any further,but if you do use bleach, go very sparingly with the bleach in the water.. I would use like a tablespoon of bleach to a gallon of water..

 

[Buckeyes-R-Us]

keep us posted on your success (or failure) after washing the eggs.....I'm in the "other camp" NEVER wash an egg I intend to hatch but I dont attempt to hatch extremely dirty eggs either!

i had a guy bring hatching eggs to me for incubation one year and none of them hatched....after talking to him he told me he washed them in a disinfecting solution based on some info he found on the wonderful world called the internet! perhaps his cleaning method was not up to snuff with those of you who posted "wash them" here at BYC?

anyway, when I read threads about "washing eggs" some say use cool or cold water, some say warm or hot (up to 105F?), some say wash them right before placing in the bator, some say wait 24 hrs, some say to towel dry them, some say let them air dry, some say use bleach, some say NEVER use bleach....it just way to confusing so I defer to this MSU document when someone asks me what I think about the subject;

http://msucares.com/poultry/reproductions/poultry_wash.html

Good luck "chicmom" I hope they ALL hatch, (fingers and toes crossed for you)

 

[StormyMoon]

I have never washed my eggs, but I make sure that the girls have fresh nest to lay in every morning when I go and let them out at 6 am , I have only had 1 or 2 that have smudges on them "I agree with not washing them" scrape off if there is extra crusty stuff but I wouldn't ever wash them.

Besides think of this if they was under a broody the chicks have to come out some time to walk in the coop they will be around poop walking in it.

Its just natural I think.