Ewwwwww, there's poo!

Freshly laid Big Buck Ranch eggs.  The green own comes from a breed known as an Easter Egger.

Let's face it, chickens aren't the cleanest animals.  They poop anywhere and everywhere they please.  This includes their nest boxes.  Ugh!  Fresh chicken eggs are not the pristine specimens you find at your local grocery store.  On some occasions it's a rarity to find a clean egg in the coop.  Most of the time the chickens have gotten something on the shell, this includes feather, wood shavings, dirt and poo.  Fear not, this gunk on the shell will not hurt the egg!

I do not like to wash my eggs, much to the chagrin of my husband, I prefer to keep the poo on the egg until it's time to crack it.  The day I use the egg, is the day that it's washed.  When a hen lays her egg, she puts a protective mucus coating on it called the bloom.  The bloom dries in a matter or seconds after the egg is laid.  Chances are unless you've seen a hen lay an egg, you wouldn't ever know that the bloom was there.  The bloom protects the the porous surface of the egg from bacteria.  Soooo, by not washing the egg I keep it a little fresher, a little cleaner, and a little safer.  Bon appetite!