The Official Forum of the Ameraucana Breeders Club > Housing, Health & Hatching

To wash or not to wash?

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Sarah Meaders:
Did any of y'all once NOT wash, and then begin to? Did you notice a significant difference in hatch rate and chick survival?

Mindy and Tom Best:
Sarah, I never washed my eggs and recently purchased Tek-Trol after gaining information from this same topic on the forum.(fyi I love the smell of Tek-Trol!) I used it on three hatches and cleaned my incubator with it between hatches. I found no difference in my hatch rate but felt better  about disinfecting my incubator. What I have learned is I hatch on a pretty small scale to most and my coops and nesting boxes are very clean (except for the mud when it rains). I have hatched for many years (small scale) and had one rotten egg ever. I could smell it starting to turn. If you candle its a good time for your nose to tell you if you have a bad egg. ;D

Lee G:

--- Quote from: Sarah Meaders on April 03, 2015, 06:30:35 AM ---Did any of y'all once NOT wash, and then begin to? Did you notice a significant difference in hatch rate and chick survival?

--- End quote ---

I'm actually the reverse! I used to wash all my hatching eggs in warm water with bleach, but no longer bother when collecting from the home flock. My reasoning is one year I did an experiment, washed half, left half al'natural, and discovered no noticeable difference in my hatch rates or chick hardiness. So laziness wins now. lol I do use a separate incubator strictly for hatching though...that way my setting incubators always stay clean and pristine. A few drops of oxine in the water reservoir also works wonders to combat any kind of bacteria growth. 

I would probably wash any hatching eggs obtained from outside though.
Good luck!  :)

Don:
Sarah, I can't compare the washed vs unwashed hatches, I have never done a comparison
We had never "washed" eggs because of the advice in old incubator instructions, "do not wash hatching eggs".
But a few years back I received a box of eggs from a breeder with several broken eggs which had leaked onto a good number of the other eggs.  We put the eggs in a plastic egg tray and let them sit in a bath of luke warm Clorox water mixture for a few minutes.  I did not have high hopes for the hatch, but was very pleased with a great hatch.  So now we do this to most of our eggs before setting the incubator.

I've not been a fan of Tektrol after reading the warning label, But do use Oxine and Clorox.  Even with these two I do the treatment outside and let the trays sit on a solid surface so they can drain fully before carrying them into the house and incubator.

But I really don't consider this washing because it simply treats the bacteria from the outside of the shell.  If you rub/scrub the shell, I would think it would remove the "bloom" from the shell.  Where as dipping may leave some of this natural protection?  I am curious how some of the breeders actually do this washing, dipping like Paul or more?  Maybe this "Bloom" is another Rural myth?

Susan Mouw:
For those of you who are using the Oxine, are you mixing the citric acid with it or just using the diluted pure Oxine?

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