Any way to store extra fertilized eggs and hatch later?

[Maggie1030]

Hi I'm getting 12 shipped fertilized bantam eggs in the mail today. I did not want to hatch out that many eggs. I only wanted 2-3 at this time. Is there any way I can store these eggs to hatch out down the road? Any ideas with refrigeration etc?

 

[happyfrenchman]

It is sometimes very difficult to hatch out shipped eggs. Typically, with a fresh egg, you can store it for a short time in a refrigerator, not too cold.... I think around 70 degrees... (don't quote me on that)... but the longer you try that, the less likely you will get them to hatch later. You are counting your shipped egg chickens before they hatch. I think if it were me, I would incubate them all and hope to get a few to hatch. If you wind up with a dozen chicks, that would be a nice surprise, but it happens. But no, I would not expect any saved/shipped eggs to last any meaningful length of time in a refrigerator without a considerably more sophisticated set up than I suspect you possess.

 

[AlleysChicks]

Set all the eggs and sell any extra chicks after you find out the gender. That way you get your picks. All 12 will probably not hatch. I’d say probably 6-8. Then you’ll have about 50% males.

 

[song of joy]

Hatching eggs should be incubated within 10 days of the eggs being laid, although 7 days is preferable. After that, the hatch rate declines substantially and reaches zero if the eggs have been stored for 30 days.

Set all of the eggs at the same time. 50% would be a good hatch rate for shipped eggs, as shipping often damages the eggs internally (e.g., by detaching the air cell and/or scrambling the contents).

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I've stored eggs for 21 days with no hatch rate decline. Aligning eggs in incubator by lay date I see no difference in hatch from oldest to newest. This is done as it takes that long to store up enough eggs to set. Old eggs will make a big difference in hatch rate but I've made it to three weeks with no major problems. Why you'd want to store to hatch later when you have all of them at once doesn't make a lot of sense. With shipped eggs you're doing good if 50% hatch. So that's 6 chicks and of those 50% will be male. Assuming you only want 2-3 pullets then setting a dozen shipped eggs is exactly what you want to do.

 

[Feathers4Fun2]

Hi I'm getting 12 shipped fertilized bantam eggs in the mail today. I did not want to hatch out that many eggs. I only wanted 2-3 at this time. Is there any way I can store these eggs to hatch out down the road? Any ideas with refrigeration etc?

A realistic expectation is if you set all your eggs you will end up with 2 or 3 adorable chicks that may rival the American Standard of Perfection. I'm not suggesting only 2 or 3 eggs will hatch. The fact is that established hatcheries do not guarantee their hatching eggs will hatch because of so many variables. If you store hatching eggs, optimum time for storage is 10 days at 50 degrees F. I currently have 16 fertile eggs in the incubator, when I set them, 6 of the 16 were between 12 and 21 days old and they are not mail order. I stored my eggs in a used egg carton in my kitchen from December 18th until January 8th. The eggs were sourced from my Rhode Island Reds. Welcome to Backyard Chickens and good luck with your hatch.

 

[Maggie1030]

Thank you for all the help! It's my first time with chickens and I just do not want to end up with more chicks then I can handle.