Washing hatching Eggs? To Wash or Not ot wash????????

[Serama Mama 4]

We have a chick named "poopy"

I collected an egg that had poop all over it and washed it to see if it would still hatch. After it was clean I wrote "poopy" on it so that I would know if it hatched. "Poopy" is alive and well and very cute. It hatched 1st and very easily.

 

[BooBear]

The general rule is to avoid it if possible as you do not want to compremise the bloom.
The bloom is a protective coating that keeps bacteria and germs out of the egg.
The bloom is water soluble so rinsing in water can destroy the bloom.

If you have a dirty egg you can carefully wipe the dirt of or use fine sand paper to file it being very careful of the bloom.
If you feel you must wash it the recommendation is to use water that is 10 degrees warmer then the egg so that you do not cause the egg to contract and pull the bacteria in.

I agree with the other poster in that it is best to avoid the dirty eggs from the start. Overly dirty eggs are a risk in that not only can the bacteria get absorbed but they can also contaminate your incubator.

 

[quiltnchik]

I set 20 duck eggs tonight and washed 12 of them. For the ones that I washed, I put a "W" on them. This is an experiment of sorts to see how they do. I didn't want to eat them - I want to hatch them - so I figure "nothing ventured, nothing gained."

 

[A.T. Hagan]

99+% of all chicken eggs hatched on this planet are washed and sanitized. They seem to get good hatches.

 

[BuffyGRL]

Thanks everyone for your input and experiences It is greatly appreciated

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

I wash 'em. Especially in the spring when it gets muddy. The hens always seem to step in the one mud puddle in the run and then walk over the eggs.

I use hot water and dawn dishwashing soap

and then I dry them with a towel. They get set in the incubator within a week of washing them. I don't like to set dirty eggs. Did this last year and almost all of my hatches (chickens) were 100%.

Just make sure to use warm/hot water, never cold.

 

[Gypsy07]

A month or so ago I was doing a staggered hatch and I was incubating slightly dirty eggs in a progressively dirty incubator. I did a mini experiment on the washing thing. The cleanest eggs I collected, I didn't wash. They were almost spotless. The dirty ones, I rinsed some under a hot tap and I washed some in a hot dilute bleach solution. Large squirt of Domestos bleach swirled in water so hot I could only put my hands in it while wearing rubber gloves, then submerse egg completely for approx 30 seconds while scrubbing with kitchen scourer, then rinse off and dry. Sounds like it would be disastrous for the egg, but I had a higher hatch rate with the bleached eggs than with the rinsed ones, which in turn was higher again than with the unwashed ones. Overall I hatched 3 times as many bleached eggs as unwashed ones. Yes, it was a very small sample size, but interesting nonetheless...

 

[jenlynn4]

I have washed eggs before and still had them hatch...Just be sure to use hot water so the eggs pushes out the bacteria and does not tend to draw it in.

 

[aveca]

I read on 2 different university pages that someone posted in here that its OK to kightly wash off soiling as long as it is with warm water , do not use cold water for some reason it pushes bacteria down into the pores and can cause problem..funny both universities recomended washing , only soiled spots and only warm water.

 

[Sylviaanne]

A month or so ago I was doing a staggered hatch and I was incubating slightly dirty eggs in a progressively dirty incubator. I did a mini experiment on the washing thing. The cleanest eggs I collected, I didn't wash. They were almost spotless. The dirty ones, I rinsed some under a hot tap and I washed some in a hot dilute bleach solution. Large squirt of Domestos bleach swirled in water so hot I could only put my hands in it while wearing rubber gloves, then submerse egg completely for approx 30 seconds while scrubbing with kitchen scourer, then rinse off and dry. Sounds like it would be disastrous for the egg, but I had a higher hatch rate with the bleached eggs than with the rinsed ones, which in turn was higher again than with the unwashed ones. Overall I hatched 3 times as many bleached eggs as unwashed ones. Yes, it was a very small sample size, but interesting nonetheless...

Have you tried duck eggs? It's mostly my duck eggs that get the dirtiest.