Too clean or not to clean

[duckduckturkey]

Hi,

I was given duck eggs. One source said not to clean the eggs, and another one said to. Which way do I go when incubating? If I clean them, I assume just water. Anything else?

Thanks!

 

[zebserema]

if you clean them use warm water and a paper towel rub them only slightly good luck

 

[Denninmi]

I've been washing mine in Brinsea egg wash - soak for 2 minutes in a solution of 1 teaspoon concentrate in 1 pint water between 105 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Do NOT rinse, unless they are extra dirty, in which case they should get a second soak in a fresh batch of solution.

Commercial hatcheries almost universally wash their eggs in disinfectant solution, and get excellent hatches.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

I use dish soap an hot water. Not real picky about soak time but how ever long it takes to come clean wiping them with my hand. I do rinse under the running sink. The trick is to keep the water as hot as you can stand.

 

[cmom]

duckduckturkey,

Some people wash their eggs. I don't wash the bloom off of the eggs I'm putting in the incubator. If they have excessive poop on them then I do take a scrubby and clean the poop off the best I can. I have had no problems with the eggs not hatching. Just the way I do it.

 

[duckduckturkey]

Quote:
Hot water? That surprises me. I assume that that is only once the eggs are room temperature, or more. (these were kept in cool storage 60 F) Which... how quickly should one warm them? I thought the heat lamp would be sufficent only to find that hubby, ever conservative, put lhose new low heat bulbs in them.

Thanks!

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Some folks clean, some do not.

I wash and sanitize all of my hatching eggs. Many other folks do not. We all seem to achieve about the same hatch rates.

I like to wash and sanitize mine to minimize the microbial load I introduce into my incubator. I often do staggered hatches so it may run continuously for a couple of months or more.