Gamebird hunter Posted February 10, 2015 Report Share Posted February 10, 2015 Hello what do you guys wash your eggs with just water? Or a type of soap. Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsonicnat Posted February 10, 2015 Report Share Posted February 10, 2015 (edited) No mate your buy the proper wash, it disinfects the eggs.. Don`t try and cut corners it will not pay off, Get Proper egg wash. Damn, Sorry had to edit: the egg is very soft and will get in the egg.. Hardens later on.. Edited February 10, 2015 by subsonicnat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamebird hunter Posted February 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2015 (edited) Ok will do thank you! Subsonicnat Edited February 11, 2015 by Gamebird hunter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul223 Posted February 11, 2015 Report Share Posted February 11, 2015 (edited) I'm of the understanding that the problem is by washing debis off the egg shell bacteria may infect the egg, the reason being the shell is porous (it has to be to allow the developing embryo to 'breath') so by washing a warm egg in cool water the egg will cool, condense and, possibly, draw in bacteria, any bacteria inside an egg during incubation will most likely lead to a horrendous stinky mess so wash cooled eggs in warm water / egg wash mix to achieve the most sterile environment as possible same goes for the incubator! Edited February 11, 2015 by Paul223 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsonicnat Posted February 11, 2015 Report Share Posted February 11, 2015 I'm of the understanding that the problem is by washing debis off the egg shell bacteria may infect the egg, the reason being the shell is porous (it has to be to allow the developing embryo to 'breath') so by washing a warm egg in cool water the egg will cool, condense and, possibly, draw in bacteria, any bacteria inside an egg during incubation will most likely lead to a horrendous stinky mess so wash cooled eggs in warm water / egg wash mix to achieve the most sterile environment as possible same goes for the incubator! +1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakeside1000 Posted February 11, 2015 Report Share Posted February 11, 2015 (edited) Many years ago I used to both breed and hatch pheasant, we preferred to leave the eggs as we found them which were collected every day from the pens, but always sterilized the incubator and brooders, also ensuring anyone handling the eggs ,kept their hands sterile, the risk of contaminating the shells or having contaminated water enter through the porous shell was too high,our hatch rate was normally around 90%, some years later whilst living in France I was involved with a local ostrich farm, we used to collect the eggs and store them in a cool room ready for the incubator, but the hatch rate was only 28%, we had the failed eggs checked and almost all had failed after 7 to 10 days with contamination by bacteria through the shells, in the desert , the ostriches natural home, the environment is almost sterile, but eggs laid on grass would almost certainly be contaminated from day one, by working with various surfaces and egg cleaning we managed to get a 78% hatch rate , one of the highest world wide, it just shows you cant be too careful if you want the best success achievable, most of our ostrich were raised to 10 months for slaughter, going out to posh restaurants , very few survived to go on as breeding stock. Edited February 11, 2015 by lakeside1000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
throttlemonkey Posted February 11, 2015 Report Share Posted February 11, 2015 When incubating hen eggs I wash in egg wash solution in water considerably warmer than the eggs so air inside eggs expands. Although I achieve similar hatch rates with unwashed eggs, cleanliness of incubator and equipment, temperature and humidity much more Important I feel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamebird hunter Posted February 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2015 Ok thank you very much everyone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoot and be safe Posted February 12, 2015 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 We didn't wash the eggs we hatched unless they were extremely dirty and then we would discarded them. All we did was to put the untouched eggs in the incubator and fumigated everything inside the incubator. It all depends on how many eggs you have and the size of your incubator, but if you do have to wash them, wash them the day before in lukewarm water for the reasons Paul223 said. The main thing is to keep everything sterile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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