Washing before eating

[Farmgirl283420]

Hello Fellow Chicken Families!!

Well we are two months in and we have embraced chicken math. Our 1st coup, as many of you kindly commented on, is now a spare for future hatchlings. We had a new and improved coop built by a local builder and we love it! In addition, a friend needed to rehome her flock so we went from six to 13 plus a rooster! Aaaaaand we have had our first egg and now today a second hen laid HER 1st egg. It is all so exciting!!!

I know there have been A LOT of posts on washing eggs and I have read through MANY of them. Forgive me if the answer is out there and I missed it. I know if you wash eggs, you damage the bloom and they have to be refrigerated. We are keeping ours out on the counter, bloom intact. My question is when you go to use the eggs.....do you wash the eggs? Ours are not dirty but it makes sense to at least rinse them before cracking them and cooking them. Yes? No? If you do 'wash' them...wash them with what? Seems there are some strong views on food safety when it comes to eggs. I thought I'd come here and check out what the experts have to say!!

Thanks!!

On a separate note....the rooster we inherited is very mellow. He is still youngish (6 -8 months) but he shows no aggression towards me our any of my kids when we go in the coop or run. BUT just about everyone and their brother has warned me he will likely try to attack us, especially the kids as he gets older. Fact or fiction? Your experience?

I don’t think we ever wash our eggs!

 

[Folly's place]

@Mrs. K gives excellent advice about roosters, as always. We've had the good, the bad, and the ugly, and in 30+ years of chicken keeping, have learned to only keep the good ones!
And i always wash any eggs that aren't going to be hatched. Daily, warm water and some dish soap, rinse, dry, and refrigerate. Really grungy ones get thrown out. The saying is 'one day at room temperature is one week in the refrigerator', so having eggs that keep makes sense to me. And I love raw cookie dough!
Mary

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Just thought of something I'd like to add. Clean nests equal clean eggs. Be sure the roosts are higher than the nests, and the hens won't sleep (and poop!) in the nests. Keep the floors as clean and dry as possible, and dirty feet won't foul the nests either.

 

[Folly's place]

So true! And our coop floors aren't super clean right now, definitely due for that spring clean out! Also, the French Marans with their slightly feathered legs don't help, especially the one hen who seems to step in poo on her way to a nest box on purpose!
Mary

 

[Sammster]

Guess I'm the odd-one-out. I date and refrigerate eggs that are unwashed. I wash before cracking or before boiling, if I'm hard boiling. If eggs come in poopy, I wash them and mark them with a "w" (for washed) and use them first

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Guess I'm the odd-one-out. I date and refrigerate eggs that are unwashed. I wash before cracking or before boiling, if I'm hard boiling. If eggs come in poopy, I wash them and mark them with a "w" (for washed) and use them first

No, you sound like me, or pretty close. I date and refrigerate unwashed eggs, then wash before using or selling.

 

[BDutch]

I wash and refrigerate the very dirty eggs (rarely need to). The good ones are kept in a cupboard. Only in summer when it gets warm >25 C I refrigerate eggs if they are not eaten within 2 or 3 weeks.

Since the invention of refrigeration science proves it keeps food fresher, longer and safer.

Why keep eggs cool if there is no need for it? I only keep the formerly dirty and washed eggs in the fridge. Not the clean ones. And I don’t keep onions, potatoes and such in the fridge either.

In Europe, all laying hens are required to be vacinated against salmonilla...
Not so in the USA.

No. Its more complicated in the EU. Hobbyist don’t need to vaccinate their offspring.
From our gov: On poultry farms with chickens, the vaccination of laying hens and breeder poultry against Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis is mandatory, unless this poultry is intended for intra-Community trade or export. Vaccination is also mandatory for laying hens sold by private individuals on the market or for hobby chickens sold by poultry companies or traders on markets or to private individuals. The vaccination of this poultry against other zoonotic Salmonella is optional. It is prohibited to vaccinate selected poultry with a vaccine against Salmonella.

BUT just about everyone and their brother has warned me he will likely try to attack us, especially the kids as he gets older. Fact or fiction? Your experience?

I have very little experience with roosters. But I know many of them tend to look after their ladies and don’t want you to interfere with the hens. So give treats/food to the rooster, not to the hens.
Young pullets are not interesting for a rooster. Without laying hens roosters are not protective/aggressive (in general). @Shadrach wrote a very good article about rooster behaviour. Should be easy to find in the article section.

 

[1sttimechickenmom]

Really, this is a do as you want. Unless it is muddy, my eggs are pretty darn clean. If one is dirty, a brush will work, after all you don't eat the shell. If it is filthy, I wash and bake with it ASAP.

As to the rooster, the big question is the age of your kids. Roosters tend to attack children first, or an adult bent over or close to the ground. Just this morning, there is a post of an older man, with a bruise above his eye, and a scratch just below his eye, towards his nose...to damn close to the eye for me.

Young children, under the age of 6, tend to take the attack in the face. Roosters have ruined the whole chicken experience for a lot of people. Plus no damn bird is worth a child's face or eye.

IMO (and when you talk roosters, there are a lot of opinions) if the bird starts to exhibit aggressive signs - it is too late to do much. Almost 100% of the time, rooster aggression rises. Some people change their own behavior to keep him, but I would not try this with children.

My experience is 20 years with full size chickens.

Warning signs of aggression:

• Fluffing up to make himself look bigger when you come into the run.
• Excessive crowing when you come into the run
• Jumping up on something to make himself taller
• Walking right up to you. A lot of people think of this as being friendly, but it is a lack of fear, in the chicken world, fear equals respect. When any two chickens meet, one gives way - that is respect.
• Stink eye or glare
• sneaking around you to behind you. A lot of roosters will make this there first attack.

Watch him carefully around your kids, it is not uncommon in the beginning for him to act one way towards one person, and another way to someone he thinks he might be able to take on.

Good signs:

• he naturally moves away from you, about 4-6 feet. This is not a panicked movement, just a casual stepping back to give you more space.
• An exceptional rooster will move away from you, and his hens will gather behind him.
• His hens adore him, grass tastes better if he gives it to them.

Be honest how you and your family interact with the hens. If you are hands off, just watching them from afar, enjoying being outside doing a few chores each day, and getting fresh eggs. Keep the rooster.

If you love to hold your chickens, your children like to catch and carry the hens, the hens are considered more pets, than a hobby. Let the rooster go.

If you are in any doubt, let the rooster go ASAP. IMO, roosters take a great deal of experience, and a sharp knife for the ones that don't work out. A lot of roosters do not work out. Inexperienced people vastly underestimate how violent they can be.

You have years to enjoy this hobby. Starting with just a hen flock, and a year or two later, (your kids are bigger and also have more experience) add a rooster. Then try hatching chicks, nothing is more fun than a broody hen and chicks. Raising up meat birds is another thing to do. 4-H shows and egg entries are wonderful ways to expand this hobby. You don't have to do it all, or all this year.

Mrs K

Thank you for taking te time to really map out the reality!! This is great information and so helpful. After the last few days of watching the rooster chase a hen or two to the point of panting, shaking and hiding, along with seeing some behaviors you mentioned, I think we will rehome him. There is no reason we need to take on this potential risk right now. The girls have been a joy and I want to keep it that way!!

Thanks again!!

 

[Judy Todd]

Congrats on the eggs! It's so exciting when the magic starts happening!

Well... everybody's an expert, so you're going to get answers from A to Z, so you won't be any wiser after you read all the answers. You'll just have to decide what works best for you. Here's my thinking. As one respondent already pointed out, eggs need the bloom to protect them IF they are going to be under a hen, hatching. Gets pretty nasty under there, the egg needs all the protection it can get! In a clean carton in your fridge? Not so much. By all means wash it if it makes you feel better. It's still going to be fresh enough to eat for a couple of months, but is it really going to be in there that long? Nope! It's going to get eaten long before that!

Me? I wash before eating or selling, better safe than sorry. I put a little squirt of Dawn dish soap in a sink of warm water, give them just a quick dunk in an egg basket, then rinse quickly. If soiled, wipe with a damp paper towel, air dry and put in cartons. Oh... and I date each egg on the big end the day it's laid. That's so I know which ones are best for hard cooking - they peel best if at least two weeks old.

Dito, exactly what I do. My eggs are often dirty as I live in the PNW, rain, rain, rain. And I sell to neighbors, so yes, clean them.

 

[Windywoo]

I am always confused by the "not refrigerating the eggs thing"!.
Like is your refrigerator full?
Or are you somewhere where there is no electricity?
Since the invention of refrigeration science proves it keeps food fresher, longer and safer.
Anyway, yes, dont wash or refrigerate if you plan to hatch the eggs.
Now the washing before you cook eggs question.
I guess it depends on how squeamish you are about germs. It may make some wonder about handling the eggs then other food while food preparation, but others are reasured that the high heet on cooking will destroy the bacteria anyway.
I dont know, touching unwashed eggs (thinking about where they come from) then buttering my toast...
The rooster question. yes he may get aggresive. Keep watch always when the kids are around him. My advice is to not befriend your rooster. Let him retain a healthy respect and fear of humans.

Familiarity breeds contempt is the saying. And adolesent roosters will test to see what they can get away with.
Congrats on your flock!

Ok, hen anatomy closes the feces area off when an egg is on the way through. The bloom (wetness) that covers a newly expelled egg seals the shell from bacteria once it dries. You could rinse your fingers before you get your toast, lol.
I hope this explanation helps you.