Will my eggs still hatch ok even if I had washed some of them without knowing at the time that I shouldn't have? I'm getting worried now that I may have problems I am hoping they will be ok Carrie
I can't answer that, but could you mark the ones you washed and keep up posted as to how the come along? I have had some with broken eggs on them and tried to clean them up some, but ended up none hatched. I don't know if it was from shipping or the clean-up????
Did you scrub them? I always sanitize mine in a weak bleach solution and warm water for 1 minute and let air dry. No problems her with hatching. All you can do is wait and see if they develop. Blood rings will probably be the tell, tell sign if there was any damage done. You should know by at least day 10.
Unfortunately I didn't think to mark them before putting them in my bator. I didn't scrub them...just rubbed dirt off with my finger. I know I have 2 for sure (will be 3 or 4 maybe by the end of today) that I didn't wash at all and were pretty clean anyways. I washed mine with just tap water(well water,so no chemicals) I will let you know if they still hatch. I hope they do. I want more EE chickens haha !...I only have 2 EE hens and would like to have more.Oh and when I wash them, I let them air dry.Oh I have another question... I have to turn them manually...how often should I do this? The directions that came with the bator says 2-3 times a day..and the man who I bought it from said every 12 hours. I have marked an " X " on one side and an " O " on the other side and turn them to the opposite side every time I turn.
Turn at least every 12 hours, 3 or 4 times is better. What temp was the water? Supposedly (don't know if it ever was proven) cold water makes the membrane shrink and can draw in germs. I have washed eggs with a little antibacterial egg wash in the water and it was fine. Just candle the eggs after a week or so and watch for development... in the case of green eggs or darker brown ones you'll probably need to wait a little longer to see anything, they are harder to see through. Your eggs are probably fine.
I have always cleaned eggs that where dirty before setting to hatch. Never had a problem with them hatching. Sorry stop worrying.
You can certainly sanitize and clean them. If you do, you want to adjust your humidity up 8-10% to compensate though.