how do you clean eggs to put in the incubator

[clarissa]

ok I read somewhere that you need to clean your eggs before you put them in the incubator.  Right now I am using just plain warm water.
Does anyone out there have a trick on how to clean the eggs other then water besides having to buy a costly egg washing machine I have a small incubator that does 120 eggs at a time.  I do not need to buy one of those huge egg washing things.
thanks.
clarissa :lol:  :roll:

[birdman182]

there is an egg cleaning soap look www.at strombergschickens.com

[pgbirdman]

I use steel wool and gently rub manure away, of course you don't want to "sand" the egg down!  I even do it while the eggs are incubating.  I use hens though not an incubator.  Not sure if there would be a difference.

[Sterling-Ranch]

This farmer up the road from me will throw eggs in his cabinet incubator with mud smears on them.  He regularly gets high hatch rates.

[clarissa]

thanks for the hints i am going to check them out and see what happens

[shagomatic]

Cleaning them with water is really not a good idea.  There is an invisible film/barrier that protects the egg that you are washing off.  If the egg is not clean don't incubate it- thats my opinion anyway.  They do make effective commercial washes but I think this would be more for a large scale operation.  You are best off to either use clean dry eggs or gently scrub them with a dry material like pgbirdman suggested.

[CHARLIE]

I USE A DAMP PAPER TOWEL TO CLEAN MINE BUT IF THEY ARE TOO MESSED UP I THROW THEM AWAY.
                 CHARLIE
                  BACKYARD GAMEBIRD FARM
                    DELAWARE

[deansgt]

I clean my eggs with warm water, and a soft sponge, but only about half the time (if they are very muddy). The rest of the time I don't clean them at all.
I have had very good hatch rates either way(90-95%).
If they have quail sh*t on them that is ok, I just make sure to clean the incubator before I start another hatch. That is how they are hatched in the wild. That is natures way.
Cleaned or not cleaned either way works for me. Just my humble opinion.

[duck nutt]

i clean mine with a knife...i scrape what i can off..i don't ever wet them...the covering talked about above, called the bloom, is there to protect the egg from bacterial infection...eggs shells aren't 'airtight'..they need these tiny holes so they can dehydrate as needed while incubating....as easy as moisture gets out, bacteria can get in...especially if you remove the protective covering..

[Fivehollers]

The sanitizer I use to clean the hatcher and incubator and cages also will wash eggs. I use a different concentration tho. Also...make sure the water is at least 110 degrees. The way we have the breeding cages set up tho they don't really get to messy with poop or anything else as soon as the hen lays an egg it rolls out of the gage onto a small shelf and we collect them from there. We have had to "wash" maybe 6 or seven eggs. The thing about the water is true. I had one batch of really sickly birds and most of them died in the hatcher because they got condensation on them from going from the refrigerator to the incubator. The humidity was just to much. They hatched but were the sickest hatch we have had so far. I think it was due to the covering on the egg getting washed off. Anyway...lessons learned. We keep the eggs under the house now where it is cool and the humidity is the same as outside. Anyway....i don't have the bottle of sanitizer right here but I know it is made by Purina and is espically for hatcheries.  :lol: