Why no washing/disinfecting eggs?

[SundownWaterfowl]

I was most of my hatching eggs, with hot water and dawn dishwashing liquid. Almost all of my hatches from my eggs have been 100% this year. I see no problem with washing hatching eggs, and have seen no ill effects from washing them. I also spray down the eggs several times during incubation with brinsea incubation disinfectant, especially if they are eggs that I have purchased from another breeder.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Any proof of that? I have years of hatching that proves it dont hurt anything. I know lots of others doing the same.

 

[BlacksheepCardigans]

Quote:
The problem is - that already happened. When the egg was laid warm, and it cooled, it drew whatever was on the nest into itself. Disinfection can't do anything about that, which is why smeared eggs are usually discarded at a hatchery. They KNOW those are already contaminated.

You are supposed to wash/disinfect with hot water specifically because of the way warm/cool eggs work. Washing or dipping in hot (not scalding, but much warmer than the eggs) solution doesn't pull the stuff into the egg. It causes the egg to expand inside and helps to push bad stuff out through the pores.

What the hatcheries consider good is over 90% hatch rate. So if we've got a lower rate on non-shipped eggs, and we know we've got the incubator under control and the ventilation is good, we could theoretically get a substantially better rate by disinfecting.

 

[SarahIrl]

I also raise mine organically so will refuse to use any chemicals on them, but that is a moot point here. I will not change the way I treat my eggs, and am more than happy with the health and and hatch rate I get. I am running a school program next year nationwide into hatching and will be laying out guidelines for schools up and down the country. I won't be asking any of them to wash eggs.

ALso, chaging temps on any thing encourages bacterial bloom to accelerate, wich is why you keep meat cool until you cook it, not take it our of the fridge for 2 hours a day and then re-cool it. That will make it go off quicker. If it cools once post lay and only then reheats for incubation, it saves on extra bacterial cultures forming.

 

[BlacksheepCardigans]

Quote:
What you're doing is very close to the way the commercial hatcheries do and you seem to be having similar success. Which is what I would expect. insert little mental happy-jumping dude.

Anybody can incubate any way they want, but I hate to see people being warned against washing when it not only doesn't hurt but could help a lot.

 

[blefky]

I guess we all have our own philosophical/practical perspectives on this subject, and the diverse views are one of the things I like about BYC. Food for thought, and lots of learning. I love it!

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Everybody has to make up their own minds about these things. Wash or don't wash. Sanitize or don't sanitize. For hatching eggs I both wash and sanitize mine. For table eggs I wash them, but don't ordinarily sanitize them.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I wash our eating eggs - every one. Now after reading this, I am going to start washing my hatching eggs. I usually get 3-4 out of 7 eggs to hatch with shipped eggs. I will see if it makes a difference!

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Hi! I don't 'wash / disinfect' eggs for hatching here. I haven't seen the need for it. Most eggs are laid clean in the nestboxes. Sometimes, I have muddy runs and the hens track mud back to the clean nestboxes (and a hen will wallow her muddy feet all over the egg she 'just laid'). The mucked-up ones, I set here and they grow and hatch just fine. Cleaning the hatcher IN BETWEEN every hatch is (I think) important.

What I'm talking about is the fact that we lose a lot of hatching eggs, we TALK about the fact that bacteria got in there (every time somebody talks about a blood ring it's in connection to bacterial growth)

My experience has been that blood-rings are not associated with dirty eggs --- unless they are ridiculously nasty with clumps of feces and bedding stuck to the eggs (like I got from a member here) and then you can expect the eggs to start and stop. There is a lot of available *yuck* to start growing there (and you bet I took the incubator and hatcher apart and bleached all the parts)
I keep the regular dirty eggs here and HATCH them myself. And they are hatchable.

Lisa​

 

[muddstopper]

My personal experiences with washed eggs are I will never do again. I placed 96 washed eggs in the top tray of my incubator, the next wk I placed 96 more non-washed eggs in the second tray and the next wk, I added another 96 eggs to the bottom tray. When I went to remove the top tray of washed eggs, I found oozing and dripping down on the lower trays. Non3 of the first 96 washed eggs developed or hatched, the second tray was also contaminated and thrown out, the bottom tray only hatched like 6 or 8 chicks. The bator had to be dis-assembled and completely disinfected. I lost almost 300 eggs, about 4 or 5 wks of incubating time, and a customer that I was hatching eggs for.

I'll wipe off excessively dirty eggs, but washing I wont do ever again.