It occurred to me.. crazy egg idea

I think the scotch tape for the crack stays on, but the whole egg is not taped over just a section so you still get the exchange.

If you guys are talking the sealed egg idea from the ye olde days, no the egg must have the sealant removed so it incubates properly, per the instructions...

Cool to know people are trying to save eggs with cracks and having some success.

Lauravonsmurf said:

I think the scotch tape for the crack stays on, but the whole egg is not taped over just a section so you still get the exchange.

If you guys are talking the sealed egg idea from the ye olde days, no the egg must have the sealant removed so it incubates properly, per the instructions...

Cool to know people are trying to save eggs with cracks and having some success.

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I tried it with a few different things, But I hatch so many eggs it is not worth the effort, I heave them now..(sorry)

I think it probably depends on the egg... some eggs are hard to get so folks are motivated to try on those ones. But if you got a lot then not so much, I am just glad it works from time to time.

You all have added some interesting reading while I've been away from the forum. The shellac idea ... I like it but it seems difficult. BUT it did make me wonder if we can use wax like we use on cheddar cheeses. With heat being tolerated well by the unincubated egg according to ralphie, having to warm wax to melting point and dipping the egg once or twice in there would work. And the wax can be reused after removing it from the egg to incubate.

Way back before refrigeration I think they used to rub eggs in oil or fat for preservation of eating eggs. Probably not a good idea for incubating eggs.

My pullets are laying now and I have some eggs in the incubator testing fertility rates. It's not great so far but my roosters are young as are the girls. I'm hoping to soon get a stable supply of eggs to begin experiments again.

yellowherb said:

So I was thinking about shipped eggs the other day and since I had just received some with detached aircells, it occurred to me that one of the reasons a air cell will detach is due to evaporation inside the egg. With a large air cell scrambling is more likely just due to the fact there is more room inside the egg for movement during shipping, hence why shipping freshest eggs possible is preferred

I'm currently trying to incubate and hatch some shipped seramas. And part of my thinking process is that shipping is very hard on serama eggs which many believe to be due to the size of the egg. I must admit that some of my eggs had more evaporation than others (this could be shell quality issue or age, idk.) The eggs with the most evaporation had the worst air cells.

So based on that experience, is there a reason we do not seal eggs in plastic baggies or try to add some moisture to packaging? It stands to reason, based on my crazy thought process anyway, that if you keep the egg moist it will evaporate less and be less likely to scramble or detach the air cells making hatch rates go higher.

Problems with this is that moisture breeds bacteria, eggs are not clean and would possibly move contaminates inside the egg with the egg sucking moisture from outside of itself so there would have to be a way of "sterilizing" the outside of the egg and not pushing contaminates inside the pores.

Would like to hear some other thoughts on this. Is there a reason a fertile, non incubated egg needs O2?

I'm thinking that I may try with a few of my eggs, putting them in sealed plastic bags and storing for 2 weeks then attempting a hatch. I'm getting 100% hr and fertility, so I know any issues will come down to my storage and age of the egg.
If the eggs rot while being stored, then I will come up with some ideas on how to sterilize the exterior of the egg without harming the egg. Maybe a alcohol spritz or something.

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I saw a video where a guy uses Listerine (Original) 50% and 50% H2O in a spray bottle
. I prefer to not wash off the bloom myself but that is my preferred method. To each their own. What ever works for you.

yellowherb said:

You all have added some interesting reading while I've been away from the forum. The shellac idea ... I like it but it seems difficult. BUT it did make me wonder if we can use wax like we use on cheddar cheeses. With heat being tolerated well by the unincubated egg according to ralphie, having to warm wax to melting point and dipping the egg once or twice in there would work. And the wax can be reused after removing it from the egg to incubate.



Way back before refrigeration I think they used to rub eggs in oil or fat for preservation of eating eggs. Probably not a good idea for incubating eggs.

My pullets are laying now and I have some eggs in the incubator testing fertility rates. It's not great so far but my roosters are young as are the girls. I'm hoping to soon get a stable supply of eggs to begin experiments again.

Click to expand...

I like this idea!

Running warm water over them to remove it before incubating would be simple!

The sealing thing is interesting that is why I posted the old text... if it works it might be worth figuring out the range... also different sealing agents is a good idea to try. I need to reread some of the other old books I remember seeing different storage ideas all involving grain silos... which makes me wonder about the environmental conditions of silos with various different grains.

It seems to me someone suggested eggs might start incubating in the mail if it is hot enough... there are a lot of different advice concerning what to do first when your eggs arrive too, and this has me a bit confused.

Lauravonsmurf said:

there are a lot of different advice concerning what to do first when your eggs arrive too, and this has me a bit confused.

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It would have to be really hot out for them to start incubating in the mail. I worried about that living in Florida and having some serama eggs stuck in the post office over a 3 day weekend. From my understanding incubation does not start until they have been at 98+ for over 4 hours, but don't quote me on that haha!

The reason for allowing eggs to sit for 12-24 hours after receiving in the mail is to allow the air cells to "hopefully" re attach. I've never seen that it works. They end as wonky as they started, if they make it at all.

If you are worried about them being pre-incubated while in the mail and do not want to let them sit for 12 or more hours at room temperature you can sit them in the incubator with the turner off. I normally do this during summer. it has not affected hatch rate for shipped eggs regardless of if I put them in right away or let them sit for a day outside of the incubator. One thing that may be important is how much we handled the shipped eggs after they start incubating. It's hard to leave them alone but I have had better hatch rates if I do not pick them up from the trays to candle them.

Thanks for the info. So you are seeing no difference on your hatch rates, unless you handle the eggs after incubation... that is very interesting. I wonder if all the travel jars them too much inside so extra movement does more damage?

Hello! I'm surprised I missed seeing this thread all this time...lol.

I cannot comment on the shellacking/sealing process. But I can comment on the following from my experience if any of it helps:

Hatching eggs kept in closed foam egg cartons do much better at keeping humidity loss from occurring. I NEVER store hatching eggs in pulp egg cartons, regardless of whether they're the closed type or not. The very slight exchange of air in the foam cartons guarantees the egg never molds/grows undesirables but still holds humidity in. Foam cartons are washable and can be disinfected.

I've tried the alcohol spritz (rubbing alcohol) and have never had an egg hatch. Temperature of the alcohol was the same as the egg. One could try warmed alcohol but I question the evaporation process and it's effect on the egg.

I've transported hatching eggs approximately 5 hours away using two layers of towels; one inside the box and one towel under the box. Towels/equivalent do not absorb enough vibration/movement to be successful in preventing air cell issues such as displaced air cells. Wrapping the eggs in absorbent disposable cloth doesn't absorb enough shock either.

I've transported two separate cartons of hatching eggs; one set approximately 6 hours and the other set approximately 2 hours highway travel and 4 hours city shopping travel that resulted in 100% intact and unmoved air cells. Eggs with any movement within the carton were set into a square of bubble wrap to stop 100% of movement within the carton. Both cartons were set on a layer of foam cleaning squares in a cardboard box that was was set on a folded bath sheet.

I believe the foam and the bubble wrap were key. I'm unsure of the age of the mixed chick eggs but the second carton was collected over a week's time. This is not shipping...but it does illustrate a visible difference.

I have had some success washing hatching eggs under warmer water and with a wet paper towel with a drop of soap. If I try this again I will use bleach as stated earlier in this thread.

Dirtier eggs do experience a die off whether treated with rubbing alcohol or left. My very beginning at hatching involved setting dirtier eggs. Eggs laid in wet dirty conditions experienced die off sooner than dry, dirty eggs. This is exactly why I never eat eggs that are less than clean, or laid on the floor...or laid in muck, poop etc no matter how clean they appear. One of the keys to successful incubation is to collect spotless, clean eggs from spotless, clean nest boxes.

If setting old eggs, eggs need to be from a very similar time frame so humidity can be adjusted accordingly and will be accurate for all eggs involved. Older eggs require higher humidity for a portion/all of the incubation process. The older the eggs...the longer the time period/possibly higher humidity the incubator needs to facilitate a successful hatch. Setting old eggs of different time periods and with different moisture loss will result in eggs outside of the target humidity that will die off. Old eggs will have a certain percentage of die off but not as much as people think.

Turning eggs only when candling does not affect embryo viability as much as one would think. Chicks are healthy with no deformities. Die off is surprisingly minimal.

Cold eggs, eggs that have been incubated and allowed to go cold for whatever reason can survive 12 hours almost without fail, at any point throughout the incubation period...be reheated and hatch with no discernible issues. A chick embryo can survive up to 2.5 days of being cold after being incubated for approximately 5 days. It can be reheated and hatch with very little issue (one slightly bent toe and wider stance) Ducklings in shell can go cold (possible time period several hours-3 days,) be reheated and hatch without any discernible issues.

I think candling eggs with gloved hands is key, not only to protect the eggs from contamination but also to get a better grip on the egg. It's also important not to set a dirty egg with clean eggs...or risk contaminating clean eggs with the gloved hands when candling. I also believe it is best to switchout to new, clean gloves every few days...or at the very least thoroughly wash/disinfect the ones being used.

I think one of the most important points of high hatching percentages, it's a theory of mine...is to select eggs from the best/strongest chickens that hatched without problems. And so on, and so on IF you are raising breeding stock. If one can hatch strong, viable chicks from eggs that haven't been turned or helped. And in turn hatch from these chickens...eventually there "should" be very little issue with porous shells and other hatching issues...because those eggs don't hatch and we don't carry on the genetics.

I think this is a long enough post for now...lol.

Quick mention.
In regards to your attempt to replace moisture loss with clean disinfected water, did you heat the eggs (not too high of a temp) and then place them in slightly cooler water so the egg would draw the water in?
(I don't think you could place the eggs in cold water...I'd be concerned that would be too much of a shock)