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Rural/Farm Life

jwirr

(39,215 posts) Fri Mar 28, 2014, 11:18 AM Mar 2014

If my dad was still alive I would ask him but here goes. We have chickens - layers. Because it is so [View all]

cold here in NE MN they do not get out of the hen house in the winter months. We tried but they went into shock!

So my problem is that the eggs are always so dirty. I do not remember that from working with my dad. We use wood chips as bedding and in the nests. What are we doing wrong and how can we fix it?

Edited to say that I am in the process of soaking them and cleaning them up so we can use them. Somehow I do not think you are supposed to wash them either. Help.

8 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

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If my dad was still alive I would ask him but here goes. We have chickens - layers. Because it is so [View all] jwirr Mar 2014 OP

Yes, we clean some of the eggs too fasttense Mar 2014 #1

Thank you. I will not be using bleach though. jwirr Mar 2014 #2

Contact your local extension service procon Mar 2014 #3

Thank you. Some of that will be very useful. jwirr Mar 2014 #4

Straw bedding...or at least, straw for nests. LWolf Mar 2014 #5

Yes, I remember that dad used straw. I think they use wood chips up here because they are so jwirr Mar 2014 #6

We've got them, too, but I've found LWolf Mar 2014 #7

i use shredded paper. it works for us. mopinko Apr 2014 #8