Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

To wash, or not to wash; that is the question.
According to my research and my meager experience:
Do not wash if you want to 1) incubate; 2) maintain freshness longer.
Wash if you want to 1) get the mud/straw/dirt off for better presentation and cleanliness if selling; 2) have clean eggs before using.
This might be one of those "do what works for you" things, but input from those more experienced would be welcome.

I think this question will have again as many opinions as there are poultry keepers.
My two cents worth, start with a clean nest, the eggs should come out more or less clean.
Here dirty eggs don't make it in to the house, very lightly soiled eggs get rinsed and air dried....
applies to both eating and hatching eggs.
About 5 years ago I purchased 2 dozen hatching eggs and half was somewhat dirty, since I wouldn't dream of putting dirty eggs in to an incubator (what a perfect way to grow bacteria) I washed the stained dozen and left the other unwashed. there was no difference in hatching results, they all hatched.
Not sure but I suspect that the idea of longer freshness might be left over from the times before refrigeration.
I wouldn't sell unclean eggs simply because a) the yuck factor and b) when you crack an egg any surface dirt will likely end up in somebody's breakfast and I wouldn't be willing to take the risk of somebody getting sick.

If you wash there are a specific set of temperature guidelines or you may suck bacteria in. I don't wash because the eggs are pretty clean to start with. If they are dirty check nests and butts!

I don't wash eggs but mainly because I don't find a need to. The occasional muddy or y one gets rinsed or tossed depending on how many I have stocked in the fridge lol.

Thanks for the replies. The eggs would only get muddy if it has been raining, since then hens move eggs around with both their beaks and feet. They share nesting boxes. I do keep the boxes clean.
And thanks, Ontario Chick for that info.

I wash eggs if there's mud or...other things. So, about half my eggs if it has rained enough to get mucky. If they're stained, (damp hay is the WORST), I cook and feed to whatever, but the rest are fair game for selling, hatching etc.. This time of year all eggs go in the fridge. Washed ones hatch just fine in my experience. So do refrigerated eggs as long as fridge doesn't go below 4°C for long

Interesting question. I took my husband “hame” to Scotland a couple of years ago and the thing that Gobsmacked him was that eggs were sold in the stores not in the refrigeration section. All the stores in my home area were like that. Even Tesco (which is the UK’s version of Loblaw’s) did not refrigerate their eggs. Hubby asked a store manager out of curiosity about the practice when he was wandering the Scotch isle. Local farmers are told not to wash the eggs. They are delivered as is, sold in cartons of 6 or 12. The policy in the Northern Highlands anyway is not to wash eggs or refrigerate. Another interesting thing is most household in the UK have bar sized fridges only. Perhaps that is changing now, but as a kid, no one had "big fridges", when we immigrated to Canada, I was shocked at the size of the fridges! Now I can't manage without at least two full sized fridges on the go. We often do things because it is past practice, not because it is better or worse.