What should I do about dirt & mud on eggs before incubating/selling for hatching?

[jtwaterfowl]

I posted this in another thread but didn't get a response..
I'm having a hard time deciding whether or not to clean the eggs with mud/dirt on them before incubating them and/or selling them for hatching. The decision is especially complicated because I raise rare and exotic gamebirds and waterfowl and some of them only lay 5 - 30 eggs per year so the stakes are pretty high if I do the wrong thing and it ends up negatively effecting the hatch.

I've read many reports and online debates about this and none seem to agree. Some say DO NOT clean the eggs for any reason using any method, others say clean only the dirtiest ones (using various methods), others say to clean all the eggs regardless of how dirty they look and others say to just throw away any dirty eggs.

My birds are all raised outside on the ground in large enclosures and I provide nest boxes and covered areas for nesting that are protected from the weather, but when there's a lot of rain everything gets pretty muddy and they track around that dirt and mud and it gets on the eggs even if the nests themselves are dry and protected. I collect the eggs 3 - 5 times a day and still have this problem. This has been a really rainy week so the eggs I've been collecting recently all have dirt and mud on them to some degree (it's definitely dirt, not poo) and I've been struggling with the decision to either clean them or leave them untouched. Also, this year I'll be selling my eggs instead of just hatching them myself so I'll have potentially angry customers if I make the wrong choice about cleaning vs. leaving them as is.

Can anyone weigh in on what I should do in this situation? So far if there's a drop or two of rain on the eggs and they're dirty/muddy I'll gently wipe and dry them with my shirt as I collect them but that's as much as I've done in terms of cleaning and I'm afraid that even that may be too much.
According to an article:
Quote:
Ack! Any advice for what I should do with these eggs or info on what's worked for others would be lovely.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You don't ask easy questions. I'm not familiar with all birds, but many like chickens but a layer called bloom on it when it is laid. This bloom helps stop bacteria from entering through the shell, but is not perfect. In certain cases, bacteria can still get in. But the bloom is a big help.

If you wash the eggs or rub them, you can take off the bloom. That does not mean that bacteria will enter, but that it can a little easier if it is present. If bacteria is not present, it cannot enter.

Commercial hatcheries wash all their eggs. The recommendation is to use water about 10 degrees or so warmer than the egg. If you use cold water, you can shrink the air cell since air shrinks in volume when it gets colder. This can put a suction on the egg and bring possibly dirty water with bacteria into the egg. If the water is a little warmer than the egg, the air cell expands a bit and puts pressure to keep water from coming in. When it cools back off and the air cell shrinks back to normal size, it should be clean.

The commercial hatcheries also have a solution they put in the water they wash them in. I think this not only helps get them clean, but also coats the egg without blocking off the pores. The egg shells have to remain porous so the developing chick can breathe.

The commercial hatcheries also take incubator sanitation really seriously. They don't allow any bacteria to be present to infect the eggs.

It's been a long time since I looked at the hatchery websites. Some of them, I think McMurray may be one, sells this wash solution. You might want to look into it.

I personally don't worry about a little dried dirt on an egg for incubation. I gently wipe it off and go on. If it is really dirty or has poop on it, I don't put it in the incubator. But I don't have your rare birds with limited egg production where every egg is precious.

I don't know if any of this helps you or not. I don't think there is a clearcut answer. Good luck!

 

[Habibs Hens]

ther are many schools of thought on this

some say scrape with a knife all large bits of poop

some say use a fine grit sand paper going in a circular motion

some say comercial egg wash

me personally i will scrape large parts with a blunt knife leaving egg dirty if it is and not wash it or sand it that will remove the bloom

then i will get a hatchery sanitiser/ egg wash [chicktec or brinsea] and add that 1:100 to the humidity tray and it works fab

i dont even get smell from undeveloped eggs as thats why undeveloped eggs blow up or smell due to bacteria infection

 

[mstricer]

I think there is a cleaner you can buy from brinesa. I don't really have that problem with my ducks. You should try adding straw to their run. That will cut sown some of the mud. My eggs are rarely dirty unless their is no straw in run. Hope this helps. Michele

 

[jtwaterfowl]

Thanks for the replies,
I actually already have straw all throughout the pens but they still manage to get mud tracked about. I'll try adding more and changing it out more often and hopefully that will see an improvement.

I found the Brinsea Incubation Disinfectant Concentrate and Murray McMurray's Egg Soap Concentrate for sale online and will probably buy one of those for washing especially dirty eggs.

I have another question though. I read that any kind of egg washing should only be done within a few hours of starting incubation. I'll be shipping off some eggs to a few buyers this year, so would it be a bad idea to wash the eggs before shipping them, even when using a disinfectant soap?