Are my eggs bad?

[chickntators]

I've been collecting my eggs for the last 4 days to incubate them, but I have been storing them in 80 degree temps. Will they still be good?

 

[mljohnson05]

To insure a good hatch you want your eggs to be stored in a cool (50-55 degree F) with a relative high humidity.

The hotter the egg, the less likely the embryo is to develop (or develop normal).... Not saying that some of them won't hatch, just saying that it si more likely to cause them to not hatch, be early stoppers or have defects.

Place them in a cool darker place and turn them until ready to incubate.

Best Wishes,
Laura

 

[Barrdwing]

Out of curiosity, how do people tend to store their eggs when the house is too warm? Do you buy a mini-fridge and set it at 55 degrees, or is there a "sweet spot" in your average refrigerator (like the top shelf, since cold air sinks) that is generally OK? I've heard some mention of storing eggs in the crisper drawer to increase humidity, but it seems like it would be colder down there.

 

[chickntators]

Good question, I have the same problem with my house. It's never even close to 55 degrees. I have a thermometer in my crisper right now.

 

[Barrdwing]

I've gotten surprisingly good results from eggs that were stored on the kitchen counter (it's stone, so rather chilly) in an egg carton so long as the house temperatures were between 55 and 70 degrees: about a 90% hatch rate under hens. When they got above 70 degrees, things tailed off a bit: with eggs under hens, of eggs that candled as fertile and developing at 4-6 days, we got 4/4, 5/6, and 5/8 in the past month and a half. The house had been hitting 70-73 degrees for a few hours each day through most of that time, and as the weather warmed and the house spent longer at or above 70 degrees, the hatch statistics grew poorer. Still, I was surprised at what those eggs had been able to tolerate!

But hens don't always go broody when I need them to, which is why I bought the incubator, and I've had some trouble getting a good hatch from it. So I figure that I really should learn how to store my eggs better, so that they aren't affected by a too-warm house.

 

[1shotcleaner]

i lived in alabama for 5 years and raised poultry for 4 of them its supper hot down there and i never chilled my eggs they just sat out on the counter or in the garage until i set them and had good hatch. some times the sat for 8-10 days to get 200 eggs that i wanted to hatch, or waiting for an incubator to hatch out. i would say you wont have any problem with them.

 

[raimnel]

I didn't read all the posts

but what I do is put them either in the pantry, or in the basement. prop one end up on a 2x4, then slide the 2x4 to the other end. as in turning the eggs in the bator don't leave them to the same side each night.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Over 80* the embryos start to grow but being that cold they can grow abnormally so its better to keep them below 80. You will get ok hatches keeping them at anywhere between 33 to 90 but the 50s will up your hatch rates.

 

[cmom]

I used store my eggs around 65 degrees now I just store them on my counter at 80 degrees. I have good hatches. The only difference that I've noticed is that they might hatch a day or two sooner but my hatch rate hasn't went down.

 

[chickntators]

Thank all of you for the input. I just put 42 eggs in the bator, we'll see how it goes.