I have a couple of hens that I havent used before and their eggs are getting a bit dirty. I know the perils of washing eggs, Ive had my regrettable accidents. I was just wondering if you guys do it and if you think it's necessary or not. I have heard different things like, a dirty egg can contaminate the developing chick and also that a dirty egg can make it harder for a chick to hatch by "cementing" the egg together. I usually run the egg under warm water and rub at the dirty spot with a cotton bud. Nine times out of 10 this seems to work okay, but every so often I am not as careful as I should be and a piece of shell might come away with the dirt, leaving a hole in the egg and of course a non viable egg. I am just interested to hear others views on this and other methods?

I have never washed eggs, but at the first sign eggs are getting dirty, I replace the sawdust in the breeding box. Cheers Clearwing

I am with Clearwing, if my eggs show sign of getting messy I put more wood shavings, it seems to help.

i just let nature take its course

me too.