[Charlie's Chickens]

Hi, Having just scanned through some recent posts to catch up on the latest chicken info, I noticed some comments on washing eggs.

Is there some reason for not cleaning dirty eggs when you collect them?  I only tend do do this if they are really quite dirty......Should I not be doing this? :oops:

Thanks

[poultrygeist]

Hi CC

The basic idea was that the natural bloom on a shell keeps the nasties out and washing can destroy it, making it porous.

The commercials wash in hot water then spray a coating of veg oil to reseal them, but for home use, or farmgate sale, you're better off wiping the worst off and advising the customer to wash it before use if they're bothered.

Any muck on the shell shouldn't pass bacteria through.

Rob

[Aunt Sally]

There's quite a lot of advice here:

http://www.pekinbantams.com/cleaning_eggs.asp

[Spadefighter]

Have to say that washing eggs in dishwasher detergent sounds like total madness to me! :shock:

As PG says, the egg has a natural antibiotic defence which is ruined by washing. The detergent clearly ends up in the egg or it wouldnt need to be unscented. I would rather have mucky eggs!

[nnbreeder]

I just seperate mine out, very clean are for sale or incubation. Slightly muckey are mine to use and totally mucky either get trashed or boiled  up after washing to feed back to the critters. Depends on how many I have in the freezer.

[Charlie's Chickens]

Thank you for all your replies.  I have to say I don't tend to clean them with anything other than damp (just water) kitchen roll, but now I understand the reason for the other comments and will take this on board.  Thanks.