Should the eggs be washed?

[mcdaid36]

If I decide to incubate some of my eggs, should they be washed first? Sometimes they have poop on them. I didn't know if it was more harmful to leave the poop on in a humid hot environment, or more harmful to wash away the protective bloom on the outside of an egg. Thanks!

 

[TheNewMrsEvans]

Try to brush them off, but no washing! The natural "bloom" should stay on the egg.

 

[skeeter]

when I decide to hatch eggs I make sure I check the nests several times a day,they are usually still warm and perfectly clean when i bring them into the house,but a little poo wont usually hurt,ive seen hens hatch out all kinds of poopy eggs

 

[shelleyd2008]

You can use a fine grain sand paper to clean any dried dirt off. Some people use a hard bristle tooth brush. Anything is better than washing them. There is a way that you can wash them, but I'm not sure what it is. I just use sand paper or paper towel to get any dirt off, and it works just fine.

 

[cajunlizz]

what about a damp towel ?

 

[shelleyd2008]

I have tried using a damp/dry paper towel. It doesn't seem to affect them. I would try it on eggs that you aren't afraid to lose, just in case it does affect them.

 

[Tailfeathers]

Last year I donated a dozen eggs to a local 4-H group. Half of them were washed and half of them were not. They were hatched in a styrofoam incubator and 10 of the 12 eggs hatched. One was infertile and the other stopped developing after about 1 week if I remember right. It was from an egg that was not washed.

So, if you ask me, I'd wash them. Why risk contaminating an incubator if you don't need to?

God Bless,

 

[rooster1969]

i took the advise from someone who has hatched hundreds of eggs and they told me to take a paper towel and blot them off with tek-trol. the first batch i tried this on was on a batch of speckeled sussex eggs shiped from Sc. to Ind. in 20 deg. weather and i hatched 8 out of 11 so i was really pleased, i'll probably try it again.

 

[mawark]

I hatch mine after washing in a weak solution betadine and 115 degree water then rinse in water. Wash quickly. Let eggs dry on paper towels. I just hatched 11 of 12 duck eggs doing this. Last year I hatched 18 of 23 very dirty shipped guinnea eggs. After hatching the guinnea fowl eggs I decided that I would wash all of my hatching eggs.

 

[sandspoultry]

We have washed eggs for years going into our incubator and haven't noticed any change in hatch rate. A couple years ago I saw a thread like this and decided to see what happens. We washed 20 eggs and didn't wash 20, put them in the same tray in the incubator. There was no difference in the hatch rate from one batch to the other.

Steve in NC