To wash. Or not to wash. That, is the question.

[Ms. O...aka Jean]

When I was a girl we lived in South Dakota we had 2000-3000 chickens. In SD it was at that time against the law to wash them,dirty eggs had to be sanded! I spent many days sanding eggs.Had to inspect every one as we sold them in stores.

 

[Keeperoflock]

I sell eggs to co-workers at my husband's work and give a dozen or so to our Pastor and his wife when she needs them. Before I got my own chickens I bought eggs and saved the cartons which were clear with their removable label. Their label was removed to where I now have a nice carton that's clear and doesn't have anyone else's name brand on it. The carton had a protective second part to cover the eggs before closing the top over the whole carton.

I make my own label thanking them and asking them to return the carton for their next purchase which so far they always have. On the label is included the "Use by Date" which is 2 weeks past the date of collection and add illustrated instructions on how to test for freshness (the water test method).

When the eggs are collected they are stored in styrofoam cartons UNWASHED with the date they were collected on a post-it note and are then placed in a beverage refrigerator. When I get an order, I THEN WASH them and send them on their merry way.

Right now, I get around 11- 13 eggs a day from 15 pullets so so far supply hasn't been a problem. When the daylight changes, that will change. I haven't really made up my mind if I'm going to add light to my coop in the winter or not. I 'm on the fence about it.

Anyways, my customer base right now keeps me with a supply that I can sell a random dozen here and there besides my regular customers and not have a big back-up of eggs and leave enough for our own needs which isn't very many since I can't eat eggs. Hubby must have them because he's hypoglycemic. When I use them for myself, I take them from the fridge and wash them just before using them. And that, ladies and gentlemen is how I roll....

 

[PirateGirl]

I don't think I knew what a dirty egg truly was until I got ducks. Chicken eggs rarely, if ever, get washed at our house. There is no such thing as a clean duck egg. Virtually every duck egg gets washed. They like to lay them in the mud puddles that they like to make daily. They like to walk in the mud and play in the rain and then go back in their nest house to warm up and smear that mud all over the eggs they laid a few hours ago. I wish I had a photo to share with the chicken only people and even those who swear to never wash an egg would quickly change their minds

 

[MissChick@dee]

I don't think I knew what a dirty egg truly was until I got ducks. Chicken eggs rarely, if ever, get washed at our house. There is no such thing as a clean duck egg. Virtually every duck egg gets washed. They like to lay them in the mud puddles that they like to make daily. They like to walk in the mud and play in the rain and then go back in their nest house to warm up and smear that mud all over the eggs they laid a few hours ago. I wish I had a photo to share with the chicken only people and even those who swear to never wash an egg would quickly change their minds

Sure glad I don’t have ducks! Sounds so messy

 

[alexa009]

Sure glad I don’t have ducks! Sounds so messy

Yes, they really are! Any water bowl they have access to turns into a mud bowl as soon as they find it! Definitely can't keep them with chickens!

 

[PirateGirl]

Sure glad I don’t have ducks! Sounds so messy

I wouldn't say they are any messier than my chickens, just wet, everything is wet, always.

 

[Smiling Angel]

My daughter-in-law has a really nice wire two level thingy to display the eggs. We would put the green, blue and our one white egg on the top, and our shades of brown on the bottom. If an egg was slightly soiled, we would use a rough dry sponge to remove the visible soil. If the eggs were really bad, we would wash them under running water, and then refrigerate the ones that we had washed. Earlier in the summer, we were getting way too many heavily soiled eggs, and very few to put in the display rack and not refrigerate. For the most part, we have solved that problem by buying a very sturdy six nesting box contraption from Amazon, and I've seen it in other places, too. The eggs have been, by and large, much cleaner. We have twelve hens and four 3 month old pullets. They seem to like their roomy nesting boxes! We've even found two hens in one nesting box on occasion!

 

[New2Chicks97]

I only wash the dirty ones and those I put in our personal use bin. These I keep for us and when they get built up my husband makes hard boiled eggs. My daughter and husband love eggs so a build up of extras doesn’t usually happen.

The clean ones I put in a carton & they go in the refrigerator. I know everyone says that they don’t “need” it but I feel better putting them in there since my husband sells the eggs to his coworkers.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

I for one do not wash my eggs.

Salmonella is only a concern if your coop/chickens are dirty. My chickens free range all day and aren't confined in a space of filth. Nature has provided a wonderful way of preventing the permeation of bacteria into the eggs (the bloom on the eggs produced by the mother) and if it's sufficient enough to protect the existence of the chicken offspring, then it's sufficient enough for my consumption, lol.

Not to mention salmonella has always been a thing, but eggs were ate without much issue for centuries. Salmonella outbreaks only became a concern when eggs were mass harvested in filthy conditions. I'd be surprised if any of the chicken breeders/keepers on here have had an issue with salmonella.

Hi, I am new to poultry keeping, so still very much learning. My birds aren't laying yet but I've been looking into buying some egg wash which doesn't interfere with the eggs natural barrier but will decide when the time comes. You mention salmonella and I'm just wondering can birds who are vaccinated against salmonella still pass it on?

 

[Anna Ranieri]

When I was a girl we lived in South Dakota we had 2000-3000 chickens. In SD it was at that time against the law to wash them,dirty eggs had to be sanded! I spent many days sanding eggs.Had to inspect every one as we sold them in stores.

My dad originates from southern Italy, his mother kept chickens for many many years, as a child they did not have a fridge so they stored the eggs in flour which kept them fresh and also helped in getting them clean