Storage Length For Hatching Eggs-What were the oldest eggs you have set?

Wyandottes7 · Jan 5, 2016

I know that the general recommendation is to not set eggs that have been stored longer than two weeks and to ideally set even fresher eggs. However, I was wondering, has anyone ever tried setting eggs older than two weeks? If so, what was the result? Does hatchablity really decline signficantly or can you successfully hatch eggs that are 2+ weeks old?

Jessimom · Jan 5, 2016

Wyandottes7 said:
I know that the general recommendation is to not set eggs that have been stored longer than two weeks and to ideally set even fresher eggs. However, I was wondering, has anyone ever tried setting eggs older than two weeks? If so, what was the result? Does hatchablity really decline signficantly or can you successfully hatch eggs that are 2+ weeks old?

I collected the first eggs my silkies EVER laid. I have 4 hens, 1 roo. I set the first 25 eggs I collected over an 8 week period. I didn't date them, so I don't know which ones were clear and which ones didn't hatch. Of the 25, 20 hatched and are all healthy. 3 were clears. 1 was an early quitter and 1 died after day 21 - it just didn't hatch..

So, I don't know how old the ones that didn't hatch were, but I guarantee that MOST of the earlier ones did hatch!

I figure it can't hurt to set them!

howfunkyisurchicken · Jan 6, 2016

I've set eggs that I put in the fridge, for who knows how long, and they've hatched. I usually collect for about a week, but when eggs are slow, I collect until I have the amount I want (which could be a month or more). My hatch rates are usually fairly decent.

Storage Length For Hatching Eggs-What were the oldest eggs you have set?

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