To wash or not to wash eggs?

[Gardeningmama]

Hey- If they don't have poop on them the chickens own "bloom" keeps the inner contents pure. Otherwise when you wash off the poop and the "bloom" the water must be at least 40 degrees hotter than room temp. This was scientific but don't ask me where I read It. I lived in Mexico for 7 years and never refrigerated an egg. They don't down there and to no ill effect. You have your eggs out on the counter in a basket and use them every day so they never get old. lol Beverly Evans
While I'm here I want to ask a question. My cks. eat all the bits of corn from their fancy organic feed and leave all this powder stuff. The powder ends up being 3/4's of the feed!! What to do with it? It mostly ends up on the coop floor. I can't afford that kind of waste--not cost effective, what? So I make " "chicken pancakes". At first I just put 1 egg and some water aand fried up some. They weren't having any! They say chickens have no, or very little, sense of taste. Don't believe it. Next time I added milk instead of water, salt, baking powder, and enough flour to make them act and look like real pancakes. They gobble them up! Do I want to go to so much trouble every little while? No way, but what do other people do? Throw it away? Or are other people's chickens less picky than mine and eat all that powder? Feedback please.

This is exactly why I switched to pellets as soon as I could. You might try saving that powder up for a bit, and making a batch of Fermented Feed with it?

 

[momtocritters]

Our eggs don't last long because we eat them! LOL. I don't wash them, I leave them on the counter but before I use them I wipe them down with the new Windex Antibacterial wash that is in the pump. It's easy to just grab a paper towel, pump some wash on it and then wipe down the shell. It's true that leaving the protective coat on allows you to keep them longer and not refrigerate them, however, they should be washed in some way before use because in the process of cracking them you can introduce bacteria into the inner egg. I was taught cold water is better than warm, but I'm not sure about that part....

 

[theuglyduckling]

no offense to anyone who does wash their eggs with some type disinfectant, but it sort of seems weird or bad to me that people put a chemical on the eggs because im no expert or anything, but wouldnt the chemical seep into the shell and then into the egg?

 

[MohawkJEn]

I read not to put the eggs in the fridge without washing them. Something about that bloom absorbing into the pores of the egg and it can lead to bacteria growing in the egg before it is consumed. I don't know if that is true and the only reason I know of to refrigerate eggs is for transportation, otherwise they just need to sit on the counter until you eat them. People only put them in fridges in the first place because they bought them from the grocery store.

 

[momtocritters]

<theuglyduckling> - Oh, I wouldn't use the antibacterial wash except for just the moment before I crack them to use - it wouldn't have time to soak into the pours or anything. I get what you are saying and I agree completely if they were going to sit around for any length of time. Does that make more sense?

 

[theuglyduckling]

<theuglyduckling> - Oh, I wouldn't use the antibacterial wash except for just the moment before I crack them to use - it wouldn't have time to soak into the pours or anything. I get what you are saying and I agree completely if they were going to sit around for any length of time. Does that make more sense?

i understand what you mean, but i mean the ones from the store or the people who wont eat byc because they arent washed in bleach or something. idk it just seems a little weird to put some type of chemical on it.

 

[momtocritters]

Quote: I agree! Yuk, bleach? No thanks!

 

[houseofknauss]

funny how this thread goes round and round. wash only if pooped on, use those eggs first and store the remaining for doomsday. a little watered down dawn dish soap and a good rinse works wonders

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

funny how this thread goes round and round. wash only if pooped on, use those eggs first and store the remaining for doomsday. a little watered down dawn dish soap and a good rinse works wonders

I've never done it so can't offer an opinion, but it isn't generally advised to wash eggs with anything that has a scent because that can make the eggs taste off (though it's probably okay if you use the egg immediately after washing). I've also read that sometimes things which are marked as "unscented" are actually treated with chemicals to neutralize the natural scent of the product, which can be worse for people who are sensitive to artificial scents ... I'm not sure how that tidbit translates to egg-washing advice. So, maybe some kind of "natural" dish soap without added scents would be better?

Otherwise, I think that's probably perfect advice for people with a few chickens for "personal use." Also, having some kind of system where the "oldest" eggs are always the first used.

 

[AmySG]

I don't wash my eggs. The egg is designed to be pretty much sterile inside (unless the hen is infected), and protect from germ attack from the outside. Eggs have been laid and hatched for long before modern technology, so is probably better at keeping itself clean and fresh than I can invent.

I also believe (I use that word 'believe' because I don't have a lot of evidence to support my hypothesis) that ingestion/innoculation of small amounts of germs keeps the immune system primed and ready to fight off bigger attacks. I refrigerate mainly as someone else remarked, because my critters might get at them. And, if I put them someplace safe and dark, they wouldn't be handy anymore, either.
Being new to eggs, I am right now swimming in bitty Bantam eggs

I thought I would get close to 50/50 roos/hens from my feed store straight run chicks. Instead, I have one roo and five hens to just the one me, and have at least 4 dozen egglettes vying for fridge space. I may need to follow a Medieval version of egg storage: coat in a thin layer of beez wax and store in the root cellar, and they should last about a year. Of course, under that plan, I could have hundreds of eggs by the end of that year.

When chicken math kicks in, I am likely to be in real egg trouble

I really need to bake more!