a very weird series of events...

[ebdakota]

i am new to chickens -- i just started my small flock from eggs last spring. yesterday i lost one of my two banties to a raccoon attack. i found her when i went to go shut the coop at dusk. very, very sad well, this morning i went to go let everyone into the run (no more free ranging unsupervised!) and found four bantie eggs cold as ice. these are the first eggs to be laid...and 4 in one day!?! i can only assume they were from yesterday and i didn't see them in the fading light. now i was planning to eat my eggs and i don't need more chickens, but the sentimental part of me kind of wants to see if the eggs are viable. if the last thing my little bantie did was lay her first eggs it seem wrong to eat them...i have a rooster, but everyone is young and i've only seen him start mounting in the last few days, so i don't even know if they are fertilized. is there a way to tell this early? and if i did want to try to incubate them how soon do i need to decide?

 

[ImpulsiveFarmer]

I've stored eggs for weeks in my fridge before setting them and had them hatch fine, make sure you store them narrow side down. You can't really tell if an egg is fertilized without breaking it open. You have to set it and wait a couple days and then candle it to see if it's fertile.

 

[mstricer]

I would just set it, if you want chicks. Can't hurt.