questions on hatching eggs

[NatJ]

Thank you for all the great advice! I hate making decisions like this. haahaa.

I tend to have trouble with decisions like that, too.

So I often look for ways to put it off until the answer is obvious (like collecting the eggs and then decidin whether they are big enough to incubate.)

I really hate saying, "I should have done ___" when the answer is obvious after it is too late to do it!

 

[junior67]

I tend to have trouble with decisions like that, too.

So I often look for ways to put it off until the answer is obvious (like collecting the eggs and then decidin whether they are big enough to incubate.)

I really hate saying, "I should have done ___" when the answer is obvious after it is too late to do it!

Same! I will just keep her eggs from the 9th-23rd. Order the incubator the week before through Amazon prime then if no broody put them in there and see how it goes.

My girls seem excited to see the process so that will be good at least.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Size is not the only issue with hatching pullet eggs. Their internal egg making factory is pretty complicated. It's not unusual for a pullet just starting to lay to lay some strange eggs. It can possibly take a while for her to get all the kinks out of her internal factory. For an egg to hatch about everything to do with that egg needs to be right. That's the big reason to not hatch a pullets first eggs, your hatch rate is often not really good. For most of us most of the time the hatch rate is very important. I'm not sure how important hatch rate is to you with this hatch.

What kinds of things am I talking about? The shell may be too thin or too porous. The shell may be so thick the chick can't break through to pip. You may get a double yolked egg. The yolk may be too small or too large relative to the amount of white. The white may be really thick or thin. The chalazae may not be right. One time I hatched eggs from two different pullets that had just started laying. I could tell the difference by shell color. I got 5 out of 5 from one pullet and 0 out of 6 from the other. I think that one pullet was still running from the rooster and he did not chase her down so the eggs were not fertile. When she got little older that changed.

The smaller size also means that there is not a lot of nutrition in there for the chick, but that's OK. There isn't room for the chick to grow really big in that egg and still be able to hatch. So the chicks that hatch will be small.

I hatch pullet eggs. Sometimes I get a pretty good hatch rate, sometimes I don't. When mine hatch I almost never lose one but the survival rate for chicks that hatch out of the small pullet eggs is not quite as good as the chicks that hatch from eggs where the mother has been laying longer. The vast majority of the chicks that hatch from the small pullet eggs do fine. Your odds of success with pullet eggs are not as good as they will be if you wait a while but that doesn't mean they are zero. I've found that if I wait to set the eggs until the pullet has been laying for about a month most of these problems go away.

If you set those pullet eggs there is a reasonable chance at least some will hatch. I can guarantee you that if you don't set them none will hatch now. But there is nothing wrong with waiting if you want to.

The eggs you are storing to hatch need to be turned. There are different ways to do that. If your turner can come out of the incubator and work, plug it in and store the eggs on it. You can lay them flat. Put a mark on each side of the egg, maybe an x on one side and an o on the other. Or use a red and black marker to see the difference. When you turn them just roll them over so the opposite mark is up. You can also store them upright. You don't have to, laying them flat works fine. But if you do store them upright the fat side needs to be on top. That's where the air cell is and you don't want it to migrate to the opposite end. When you turn them when they are upright you want to take them through a 90 degree change. Some automatic turners do it that way, some automatic turners roll the eggs that are flat during incubation. One way to turn them when upright is to store them in an egg carton and raise one end up on a block of wood or maybe some books so it is at a 45 degree angle. When you turn them raise the opposite end to a 45 degree angle. You can go more than 45 degrees if you want and it is still stable but don't go less.

The ideal way to store eggs for hatching is at 55 degrees Fahrenheit (13 C) and in high humidity. They can easily last two weeks and keep high hatchability in those conditions. Very few of us have anyplace remotely like that to store eggs. I keep mine at room temperature in the 70's F (around 24 C) and in pretty dry conditions. They easily last a week. It's not like they are in great shape for 7 days, 3 hours, and 14 minutes then none will hatch. The longer they go the less likely a certain egg will hatch. Some of them can be really tough. Just do the best you can.

Good luck and let us know what you decide.

 

[NatJ]

The eggs you are storing to hatch need to be turned.

I've stored eggs for more than a week, with no "turning" other than moving the carton to add more eggs, and they seemed to hatch just fine.

And for something more reliable than a personal anecdote, here is a study that included turning eggs in storage or not turning them:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1751731120301130
"Egg turning increased hatching by 2.02% over that of non-turning"

(A 2% increase in hatchability will not even be noticeable with numbers less than 50 eggs.)

So I would say, turn if you like to, but it's probably not a big deal if you don't.

 

[Ridgerunner]

(A 2% increase in hatchability will not even be noticeable with numbers less than 50 eggs.)

That's the argument I make on several of these things. A small percent difference in most of our hatches is not noticeable. For a company that might hatch 1,000,000 chicks each week and have several different hatcheries it adds up quickly. I agree with you here with those numbers, most of us won't notice a difference in one hatch.

"Egg turning increased hatching by 2.02% over that of non-turning"

I took these quotes from the study.

Turning involved rotating the eggs 180° and was performed once a day in the morning

Elibol et al. (2002) demonstrated that turning eggs by 90° four or 24 times a day was able to increase hatching by 1.7 and 3.1%, respectively, compared to non-turned eggs.

I'm confident the Elibol study was turning during incubation, nothing to do with storage. I've read about this study before, I believe it was done in Turkey. The eggs in this study were turned 24 times a day before lockdown, which would match Elibol. You'll notice how small a difference in turning versus not turning during incubation makes. Again, most of us won't notice a difference in turning or not turning during incubation.

The general recommendation I've gotten from extension sites is to turn the eggs 3 or more times a day during storage though one professor said turning the first 3 days of storage isn't necessary. I don't know where he got that. Would turning them 3 times a day or 20 times a day have made more of a difference during storage in this study? I don't know, that would take another study. You saw the number of eggs and equipment used to get a realistic number, the commercial operators are the only ones that can afford that.

The way I look at it, turning during storage and during incubation are best practices. They do not guarantee success. If you don't follow them you don't guarantee absolute failure, they just increase your odds a little. I'll still recommend that people follow them.

 

[junior67]

Size is not the only issue with hatching pullet eggs. Their internal egg making factory is pretty complicated. It's not unusual for a pullet just starting to lay to lay some strange eggs. It can possibly take a while for her to get all the kinks out of her internal factory. For an egg to hatch about everything to do with that egg needs to be right. That's the big reason to not hatch a pullets first eggs, your hatch rate is often not really good. For most of us most of the time the hatch rate is very important. I'm not sure how important hatch rate is to you with this hatch.

What kinds of things am I talking about? The shell may be too thin or too porous. The shell may be so thick the chick can't break through to pip. You may get a double yolked egg. The yolk may be too small or too large relative to the amount of white. The white may be really thick or thin. The chalazae may not be right. One time I hatched eggs from two different pullets that had just started laying. I could tell the difference by shell color. I got 5 out of 5 from one pullet and 0 out of 6 from the other. I think that one pullet was still running from the rooster and he did not chase her down so the eggs were not fertile. When she got little older that changed.

The smaller size also means that there is not a lot of nutrition in there for the chick, but that's OK. There isn't room for the chick to grow really big in that egg and still be able to hatch. So the chicks that hatch will be small.

I hatch pullet eggs. Sometimes I get a pretty good hatch rate, sometimes I don't. When mine hatch I almost never lose one but the survival rate for chicks that hatch out of the small pullet eggs is not quite as good as the chicks that hatch from eggs where the mother has been laying longer. The vast majority of the chicks that hatch from the small pullet eggs do fine. Your odds of success with pullet eggs are not as good as they will be if you wait a while but that doesn't mean they are zero. I've found that if I wait to set the eggs until the pullet has been laying for about a month most of these problems go away.

If you set those pullet eggs there is a reasonable chance at least some will hatch. I can guarantee you that if you don't set them none will hatch now. But there is nothing wrong with waiting if you want to.

The eggs you are storing to hatch need to be turned. There are different ways to do that. If your turner can come out of the incubator and work, plug it in and store the eggs on it. You can lay them flat. Put a mark on each side of the egg, maybe an x on one side and an o on the other. Or use a red and black marker to see the difference. When you turn them just roll them over so the opposite mark is up. You can also store them upright. You don't have to, laying them flat works fine. But if you do store them upright the fat side needs to be on top. That's where the air cell is and you don't want it to migrate to the opposite end. When you turn them when they are upright you want to take them through a 90 degree change. Some automatic turners do it that way, some automatic turners roll the eggs that are flat during incubation. One way to turn them when upright is to store them in an egg carton and raise one end up on a block of wood or maybe some books so it is at a 45 degree angle. When you turn them raise the opposite end to a 45 degree angle. You can go more than 45 degrees if you want and it is still stable but don't go less.

The ideal way to store eggs for hatching is at 55 degrees Fahrenheit (13 C) and in high humidity. They can easily last two weeks and keep high hatchability in those conditions. Very few of us have anyplace remotely like that to store eggs. I keep mine at room temperature in the 70's F (around 24 C) and in pretty dry conditions. They easily last a week. It's not like they are in great shape for 7 days, 3 hours, and 14 minutes then none will hatch. The longer they go the less likely a certain egg will hatch. Some of them can be really tough. Just do the best you can.

Good luck and let us know what you decide.

Thank you for the great information I am going to be eating/cracking the 3 that she has already laid tonight so will take pictures of them and post them here to see if they look fertile. I have trouble telling with my eggs. haahaa! I will also be able to tell how hard her shells are or how soft.

I did read that Cochin eggs are normally about 5-54g and her last 2 have been about 52-53 so guessing that they are close to full size already. She is 11 months tomorrow so not sure if that makes a difference since she is older????

I think I am going to try and see how it goes. They are just for me since I want some splash and can't find them around me. any extras I will just give away on a local fb page. If I don't get what I want then I will just try again later and see how it goes.

 

[Ridgerunner]

She is 11 months tomorrow so not sure if that makes a difference since she is older????

Probably. I missed that age earlier, carelessness on my part. The commercial operations delay their pullets starting to lay a few weeks by manipulating the lights. That way, when they start laying they lay larger eggs which are better to sell.

I think I am going to try and see how it goes. They are just for me since I want some splash and can't find them around me. any extras I will just give away on a local fb page. If I don't get what I want then I will just try again later and see how it goes.

Sounds like plan.

 

[junior67]

Ok here are her 3 eggs she laid do any look like they may be fertilized? Then the one that says Annabelle is my Cochin that has been laying since Oct and I know my Roo is mating her.

 

[junior67]

Probably. I missed that age earlier, carelessness on my part. The commercial operations delay their pullets starting to lay a few weeks by manipulating the lights. That way, when they start laying they lay larger eggs which are better to sell.


Sounds like plan.

Would it change any other factors for hatching or just egg size?

Her shells seemed good not thin and not hard. My Brahmas that started laying about a week or so before her had hard shells. Lol

 

[rascal66]

I've stored eggs for more than a week, with no "turning" other than moving the carton to add more eggs, and they seemed to hatch just fine.

And for something more reliable than a personal anecdote, here is a study that included turning eggs in storage or not turning them:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1751731120301130
"Egg turning increased hatching by 2.02% over that of non-turning"

(A 2% increase in hatchability will not even be noticeable with numbers less than 50 eggs.)

So I would say, turn if you like to, but it's probably not a big deal if you don't.

This! I haven't been hatching too many eggs recently, but there were times were I used eggs that I didn't turn when stored and they seemed alright. Glad you pulled out some info so I can take some mental notes for a long time, especially in the beginning, I would always turn the eggs at least once daily. Kind of glad it isnt super crucial.