Shipped Egg Arrival But No Incubator! Help!

Hello,
I have a situation here. I made a deal with a local friend/farmer to borrow an incubator. They are good friends so they said no problem. That being taken care of, I ordered my very first mail shipment hatching eggs. I was so excited!
However, disaster has struck! : (
My friends sister didn't know of the loan plan and has now high jacked the incubator and filled it with quail eggs!
I panicked and instantly ordered an incubator online (we have nothing local out here).
Sadly, the soonest one could get here is Thursday 3-31. The eggs are scheduled to arrive this Friday 3-25.
I read somewhere (can't find the article now, naturally) that it is possible to store fertile eggs in the fridge for up to 10 days before incubating.
Is this true? Is there any hope for my little first eggies? Anyone know how I might save them!?
HELP!

Do not put them in the fridge!!! That would kill the embryo emmideately. It might be alright because ordered eggs have to sit in 60 degree temps for like 6-12 hours before putting them in an incubator. Maybe you could make an incubator I did. It costs like twenty bucks and takes ten minutes.nso you have plenty of options. Do you have a local running a or tractor supply co nearby that you could buy one from, that's all that I can give and good luck

i only have a country farm feed supply here and they are all out of incubators. What can I do?!!

I think unincubated chicken eggs can sit for around 10 days and still be fine. If you think about how chickens naturally do it, it makes sense. They lay on egg every day but don't sit in them until they have a clutch of 10 or so then lay on them so they will all hatch at once. I would keep them in a cool dry place around 60-70 degrees. I would not refrigerate them. I have let Guinea eggs set out at room temperature longer than 10 days and still had ok success!

melaniekemp said:

Hello,
I have a situation here. I made a deal with a local friend/farmer to borrow an incubator. They are good friends so they said no problem. That being taken care of, I ordered my very first mail shipment hatching eggs. I was so excited!
However, disaster has struck! : (
My friends sister didn't know of the loan plan and has now high jacked the incubator and filled it with quail eggs!
I panicked and instantly ordered an incubator online (we have nothing local out here).
Sadly, the soonest one could get here is Thursday 3-31. The eggs are scheduled to arrive this Friday 3-25.
I read somewhere (can't find the article now, naturally) that it is possible to store fertile eggs in the fridge for up to 10 days before incubating.
Is this true? Is there any hope for my little first eggies? Anyone know how I might save them!?
HELP!

Click to expand...

animalwild said:

Do not put them in the fridge!!! That would kill the embryo emmideately. It might be alright because ordered eggs have to sit in 60 degree temps for like 6-12 hours before putting them in an incubator. Maybe you could make an incubator I did. It costs like twenty bucks and takes ten minutes.nso you have plenty of options. Do you have a local running a or tractor supply co nearby that you could buy one from, that's all that I can give and good luck

Click to expand...

melaniekemp said:

Hello,
I have a situation here. I made a deal with a local friend/farmer to borrow an incubator. They are good friends so they said no problem. That being taken care of, I ordered my very first mail shipment hatching eggs. I was so excited!
However, disaster has struck! : (
My friends sister didn't know of the loan plan and has now high jacked the incubator and filled it with quail eggs!
I panicked and instantly ordered an incubator online (we have nothing local out here).
Sadly, the soonest one could get here is Thursday 3-31. The eggs are scheduled to arrive this Friday 3-25.
I read somewhere (can't find the article now, naturally) that it is possible to store fertile eggs in the fridge for up to 10 days before incubating.
Is this true? Is there any hope for my little first eggies? Anyone know how I might save them!?
HELP!

Click to expand...

animalwild said:

Do not put them in the fridge!!! That would kill the embryo emmideately. It might be alright because ordered eggs have to sit in 60 degree temps for like 6-12 hours before putting them in an incubator. Maybe you could make an incubator I did. It costs like twenty bucks and takes ten minutes.nso you have plenty of options. Do you have a local running a or tractor supply co nearby that you could buy one from, that's all that I can give and good luck

Click to expand...

Tell her to move those quail babies over and make room for your eggs until your bator gets here!!!

I would not refrigerate them personally. People have had successful hatches with refrigerated eggs and it is recommended for long term storage, but either way, the rate is going to be affected by the age, plus shipment. You have six days between the eggs getting thereand the incubator, plus the shipment time and time between lay and ship, so chances are you are going to be around the 10 days recommendation. Ideally they should be stored 55-65F -higher humidity is going to help keep the air cells smaller during storage..

Thank you everyone for your help and advice! I still freaked out and overnighted a second incubator. I know. Too spendy. Plus I totally can't afford $$! But I couldn't stand it
If the egg babies spoiled : (

melaniekemp said:

Thank you everyone for your help and advice! I still freaked out and overnighted a second incubator. I know. Too spendy. Plus I totally can't afford $$! But I couldn't stand it
If the egg babies spoiled : (

Click to expand...

Well, if you are successful, you might need both eventually...hatching is addictive...lol On a more serious note, you can always sell one and at least recoup some money. What kind of bator did you order?

@AmyLynn2374
I ordered two hovabators. One is just the 1620 and the other is the Genesis. Just small run of the mill incubators for my first time. Both have egg turners. What do you think? They will work ok?

melaniekemp said:

@AmyLynn2374
I ordered two hovabators. One is just the 1620 and the other is the Genesis. Just small run of the mill incubators for my first time. Both have egg turners. What do you think? They will work ok?

Click to expand...

Hovabator is the only styro I would recommend. Overall they are highly recommended for the lower-midline range of incubators. Almost everyone I know that has one, loves them. Is the other the 1588? Just make sure that you have checked any thermometer (even the bator if it's the digital) before you trust them. An inaccurate thermometer can cause you to loose your whole hatch.

@AmyLynn2374
1588. Correct. It's the one the eggs are about to go into since it got here today and so did the eggs. But I'm supposed to let the eggs sit in the room for 24 hours first before placing them in the incubator? Or...?
I set the incubator up and turned it on.