There are many tales of people who have hatched eggs right out of the refrigerator and we all know about the hen in the coop laying in summer and then setting after 10-12 days. The question is how to best store your eggs for optimum hatchability. I store my eggs in an ice check with a blue ice pack covered by a towel then set the egg carton on top of that. I have one end of the ice chest raised several inches higher than the other. I keep my eggs cooled this way and have great success. I turn the carton in the opposite direction several times a day to keep them rotated. I always try to set them within the 7 day time frame and I rarely have any that do not develop. There are many other approaches but this works perfectly for me.
There will be occasions when you can't set your eggs in the 7 day time frame and you will still get eggs to develop even at 14 days and longer, it just cuts down on the percentage. Cooled eggs (not refrigerated) do keep longer than ones that are stored on the counter. It just depends on how important each and every egg is to you and how much trouble you want to go to in order to store them.
There will be occasions when you can't set your eggs in the 7 day time frame and you will still get eggs to develop even at 14 days and longer, it just cuts down on the percentage. Cooled eggs (not refrigerated) do keep longer than ones that are stored on the counter. It just depends on how important each and every egg is to you and how much trouble you want to go to in order to store them.
