Washing hatching eggs?

[Altfrizzle]

Who washes hatching eggs? What do you use? Techniques?

I've heard that dipping them real quick in dilute hydrogen peroxide increases hatch rates.

 

[SIMZ]

It's not something I would do! Just select clean, unwashed fertile eggs and with a good incubator they should hatch just fine.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Why is that supposed to improve hatch rate? Did they give a reason or any details of what else they do?

The last thing a hen puts on the egg before she lays it is a liquid layer that we call “bloom”. That’s why an egg will look wet as it is laid, but it will quickly dry. That bloom forms a layer that helps keep bacteria out of the egg but allows an exchange of good air for bad as the embryo breathes. If bacteria gets inside you get a rotten egg. The egg material is great food for bacteria and incubation temperature is perfect for bacteria growth. If bacteria gets inside the chick is dead. Bloom allows a hen to hide a nest and lay eggs for two weeks or so, then spend another three weeks incubating and hatching them. Ducks and turkeys go longer. Bloom is not perfect but it is awfully darn good.

If you remove that bloom you make it easy for bacteria to get inside. If you are hatching under a broody hen that is pretty close to a death sentence, they are not that sterile. If you are hatching in an incubator and keep everything extremely sterile, the incubator, the eggs or any surface you lay them on, your fingers when you handle them, the room the incubator is in, you can hatch chicks but the risk goes up if that bloom is not there.

Another problem not related to washing is that a really dirty egg should not be set. A glob of poop or dirt on an egg messes up the bloom and provides a path for bacteria to get inside. Same thing if an egg breaks and that stuff gets on the outside of the other eggs. I don’t worry about a very light bit of stuff I can gently brush off but I do not rub the egg with my finger to clean it, let alone wash or sandpaper it clean. I just don’t set dirty eggs.

Commercial operations often wash their hatching eggs in a special wash and have something to dip them in afterwards. They also clean and fumigate incubators and hatchers and keep the entire incubating and hatching room extremely clean and sterile. They do not handle the eggs by hand. I’m not a commercial operation. I sterile the incubator after a hatch with bleach and my hands clean when I handle the eggs. But I’m not creating basically a bacteria free room with special filters on the heating and AC system to keep it clean. Their washing and dipping the eggs is to maintain that sterile environment.

Some people may dip their eggs in hydrogen peroxide and have great hatch rates. I don’t know what else they do. No way am I going to do anything that might compromise that bloom. Nature came up with a substance (bloom) that works extremely well as long as I don’t mess with it. I’m OK with that.

 

[Fairview01]

I wash dirty eggs and set them. I've set dirty unwashed eggs. And I have set clean unwashed eggs. I can't really tell a difference in hatch rates. Maybe on a larger scale I could.

Personally I think the bloom is more important as a lubricant to pass an egg than it is to protect the egg. Can't imagine a hen passing an egg this size without it being lubricated.

 

[Chickassan]

I try not to set dirty eggs but if you've only got a few it has to happen i do wipe the dirty ones off best i can. The hydrogen peroxide, i don't know about that i would be worried the hydrogen molecule would permeate the egg it's tiny!

 

[jay873]

So what about if mud gets on an egg it's has Bern raining here in nc the last few days and her feet got muddy and it got on some of the eggs ahould i do anything?

 

[Chickassan]

You can take a very slightly damp paper towel or cloth and wipe them if its really bad. If it isn't too bad and its mud not poop i wouldn't be too concerned.

So what about if mud gets on an egg it's has Bern raining here in nc the last few days and her feet got muddy and it got on some of the eggs ahould i do anything?