🥚 can eggs make you sick?

The Truth About Salmonella, Dirty Shells, and Washing Eggs the Right Way

If you’re raising chickens or ducks at home, you’ve probably heard warnings about Salmonella. People talk about it like it’s hiding in every egg, just waiting to ruin your day. But how dangerous is it really? Can your backyard eggs make you sick? What if you just rinse them off? And wait — is it true that washing eggs in cold water actually pulls bacteria inside? Are the grocery store eggs are safer because they cleaner?

Let’s break it all down — like you’re learning this to run your own safe mini egg business (or just want clean, safe eggs for your family).

🦠 What Is Salmonella?

Salmonella is a type of bacteria that can cause food poisoning in humans. If you eat something contaminated, you might get:

• Diarrhea
• Fever
• Stomach cramps
• Vomiting

The symptoms usually show up 6–72 hours after eating, and for most healthy people, it just sucks for a few days and goes away. But for babies, older adults, or anyone with a weak immune system, it can be very serious — sometimes even deadly. The salmonella dangerous for people with weak immune system and in very very rare cases.

🐔 Can Chickens Have Salmonella?

Yes — but here’s the twist: most chickens with Salmonella don’t look sick at all.

They can poop it out without ever acting sick. It’s like being a “carrier.” That’s why even healthy-looking birds can pass it along.

But! There’s a mandatory blood test for chickens that go to shows, and for decades, it has provided clear evidence: only 0.001% of Salmonella carriers are found in small homestead flocks.

Those few unlucky birds? Well… they don’t get to shine at the chicken beauty pageant 🐔💔👑

Rare Symptoms in Chickens:

If they do get sick (usually chicks or weak birds), signs might include:

• Diarrhea (yellowish or greenish)
• Pasty vent
• Droopy wings, tired posture
• Less eating, fewer eggs
• Lethargy in chicks or sudden deaths

But again — in most backyard flocks, especially when clean and small, Salmonella is very rare. I just showed you those symptoms to understand that it’s very hard to notice that on the industrial scale poultry farm if they have 5000 birds.

🏡 Why Backyard Eggs Are Usually Safer

Compared to supermarket eggs from huge farms, your home-laid eggs are actually less likely to carry Salmonella if:

• Your chickens are healthy
• Nesting boxes are clean
• You collect eggs daily
• You don’t introduce 500 of new birds every week.
• You don’t have tons of birds crammed in one space and you watching them closely every day.

📊 Quick stat:

In small flocks, maybe 1 in 10,000–50,000 eggs has traces of Salmonella.

In big commercial farms, it can be strong Salmonella presence 1 in 1,000–2,000 eggs.

So yes — your backyard setup is usually much safer.

🧼 Where’s the Salmonella — Inside or Outside?

✅ Usually: 

On the shell.

After the hen lays the egg, it can touch poop, dirty straw, or dusty feathers. That’s where bacteria hang out — on the outside.

⚠️ Rarely: 

Inside the egg.

If the hen’s ovary is infected with Salmonella enteritidis, the bacteria can get inside the egg before the shell forms. This is very rare, especially in backyard birds with no signs of infection.

💡 The Eggshell Is Magic (Sort of)

Freshly laid eggs have a natural coating called the bloom (or cuticle). It’s like a super-thin invisible shield that:

• Seals the pores in the shell
• Keeps bacteria and moisture out

That’s why historically unwashed eggs could safely stay at room temperature for 4-6 weeks or even longer.

❄️ So Should You Refrigerate Unwashed Eggs?

✅ Yes — it’s perfectly safe.

Refrigerating unwashed eggs actually extends their shelf life. The only warning is:

• If you take them out of the fridge later (like for sale), condensation can form on the shell.
• That water breaks down the bloom and makes it easier for bacteria to sneak inside.

So the rule is:

🧊 If you chill them — keep them cold. Don’t put them back at room temp for long. This why I sell our chicken eggs in the cooling bags from refrigerator to refrigerator.

🚿 Can Washing Eggs Make Them Dangerous?

Surprisingly, yes — if you do it wrong.

🚫 Never wash eggs in cold or hot water

When you dunk a warm egg (fresh from the hen) into cold water, or cold egg from the refrigerator into the hot water, here’s what happens:

• The inside of the egg shrinks a little from the cold water or the air pocket expand from the hot water.
• That creates a mini vacuum inside.
• The shell is porous, so if it’s dirty… 💩 bacteria get sucked inside.

This isn’t just a theory — it’s a real thing.

Cold water + warm egg = bacteria pulled in like a sponge.

Hot water + cold eggs = bacteria pulled in all the same.

✅ How to Wash Eggs the Safe Way

Sometimes you need to wash eggs — especially duck eggs (those messy ladies love mud). Here’s how to do it safely:

The Right Way:

1. Use warm water — at least 10°F warmer than the egg.
2. Do NOT soak — just rinse briefly.
3. Gently scrub with a soft cloth or brush if needed.
4. Dry them right away with a clean towel.
5. Refrigerate right after washing (because the bloom is now gone).

If your eggs are clean when laid, it’s even better to not wash them at all. Just brush off feathers or poop with a dry cloth or soft brush. All of our eggs (99.8% of them) are clean. Not ducks eggs though, here percentage more like 80% of clean haha. But we follow the strict biosecurity rules: all dirty eggs are stored separately in designated cartoons.

🦆 Does This Apply to Duck Eggs Too?

YES — and it’s even more important with duck eggs.

• Ducks lay in wetter, dirtier places.
• Their bloom can be thinner or patchier.
• They are more likely than chickens to carry Salmonella.

So be extra careful with cleaning and storing duck eggs:

• Don’t leave them dirty for long
• Wash only when needed
• Always refrigerate after washing

❓ Can Vinegar, Lemon, or Chili Kill Salmonella?

Nope. ❌ That’s a myth.

• Vinegar and acid slow bacteria growth, but don’t kill it completely.
• Chili peppers feel “hot” to us, but do nothing to Salmonella.
• If you freeze eggs it’s freezing salmonella too, so it will stop multiplying but will not die.
• If your food is contaminated, only one thing works:

🔥 Proper cooking.

Salmonella dies instantly at 165°F (74°C). So make sure your eggs are fully cooked if you’re unsure about cleanliness.

🤓 Fun Fact: How Much Salmonella Does It Take to Get Sick?

• Healthy person: needs 100,000+ bacteria - A LOT!
• Babies, older people, or anyone really sick with weak immune system: as little as 10–100 can make them sick

It’s important for those people who take care of sick people or people with weak immune system to wash their hands after handling dirty salads, roots, potatoes or eggs.

🧪 Can You Test for Salmonella at Home?

Sort of — but not exactly.

You can’t see Salmonella under a home microscope. You’d just see:

• Tiny rod-shaped bacteria (but can’t tell if it’s Salmonella or something else)
• Worm eggs
• Coccidia
• Undigested food

For real testing:

You’ll need to collect poop samples and send them to a lab (many state agriculture labs or universities offer this cheaply). They’ll do PCR or bacterial culture, which is the only way to know for sure. We have pro grade research microscopes and petri dishes at home and it’s very challenging!

🧼 Final Cheat Sheet: Safe Egg Handling

🐣 Bottom Line

Your homestead eggs are probably way safer than store-bought ones — as long as you treat them right.

Don’t fall for myths about vinegar or spicy food killing bacteria.

The secret to Salmonella safety is clean coops, biosecurity rules, smart washing, and proper storage.

And of course — don’t crack eggs on the edge of a dirty bowl. 😉

Remember that higher risks of Salmonella is from buying greens, salads or root vegetables, all those handling rules should be applied to those produce too.