care of pre-incubation eggs

[Nordwest23]

Hay There! Im new to this forum, and have some experience with raising/incubating of various avian species, which Ill get into later, on account of I run my small farm w/mostly equines all by myself-and Im WAAAY busy.
I have a big grip (like 20 maybe) of eggs I collected after I blew off collecting the eggs for 5 days-(wanted to see if someone might sit the eggs-but no luck there), and had put them in the grain scoop on the kitchen floor- I just happened to 'find' them today, and I want to know- can I try and incubate these eggs-( I have a hatch of 20 going on right now, mostly just to 'stabilize and test out' the cheesy 10$ Styrofoam incubator I got from a friend-) they've been sitting in the plastic scoop on a concrete floor in say about 50 degree temp for about 2 weeks- I know for a fact there's NO WAY the temp got over 60-( floor is concrete, and I live in the Pac. NW- so its not hot at all) ???
ALSO- my 1st hatch isnt due for 'action' till the 18th, till then, theres no room in the incubator for them.
ALSO- they are really REALLY 'poopy' and I would like to wash/ possibly scrub then off- should I do so- or just pull of the stuck-on straw and leave them be- and what is an appropriate home made egg wash? a little bleach in water- or???
This seems to be a VERY informative forum, so I know somebody out there knows whats up, and I look forward to all the advice you can give me on these 2 topics- like I said , I do have some experience with birds...mostly pheasant but my X boyfriend did have chickens also for sitting purposes.( he was a great learning experience for exotic and endangered pheasant and doves, but a terrible mate.)
with sincere thanks in advance, Kim Nord 'Nordwest23'

 

[MiniBeesKnees]

The eggs would be more than three weeks old before you put them in the incubator. Even with perfect prehatching care that is old for eggs to still be viable. You didn't say if you have an egg turner. I know from experience that if you spend 18 days turning eggs three times a day then three days with your nose pressed against the looking panes that nothing hatching will be disappointing. If you have the temps and the humidity stabilized I'd collect some newer eggs to hatch. It is a lot more satisfying to have six hatch out of ten then it is to have none hatch out of fifty.

I don't know about the dirty ones. I don't wash mine, but I don't put dirty ones in the incubator either. Maybe someone else who washes eggs can help. But if you just put old, dirty eggs in the incubator you won't know if a poor hatch is the result of that, or if the incubator is no good.

 

[Kedreeva]

Yeah the viability of those eggs due to time stored has probably plummeted by now.

I personally don't scrub down eggs I put into my incubator, as this can remove the natural protective bloom around the egg. However, it is certainly worthwhile to chip off any big pieces of poop or other material that may obstruct the pores in the egg shell and affect your hatch rate. If you want to, you can get most of the big stuff off with a little warm water, that's all I usually use.

 

[SarahIrl]

I wouldn't even eat three week old eggs, never mind expect them to hatch. Throw them out and collect more the week before your incubator is empty again.

 

[Nordwest23]

I appreciate the advice, and Thank-You, everyone
However, let me explain-
One of the reasons for my strange questions & musings is-- Ive recently (since the 4th of July- and up till yesterday) dealt with the 'neighbors dog' scenario- a young pup-dog-ish blend of straight-up BIRD-DOG- un-contained, and un-monitored by it's owner-that is new to the 'hood'-Isn't THAT special-?! NOT!!
Ive lost 4 of my 6 layer hens- AGGGHHHHHHHHH. and I LOVE them- I've had these girls for over 2 years now..
I am so bummed and the poor, traumatized remaining 2 girls aren't even back to laying yet- so I was thinking I might take the chance with the older eggs, just a thought.-seeing as how that's all Ive got left of them, besides the 20 or so in the incubator- I guess a bad idea,though. Ahhh but tonight the 'girls' are waaay locked down- and for tomorrow- I'm gonna have to be ON it- 'cause that dog isn't gonna get by me 1 single last time!!!My poor, poor hens! AND in Broad Daylight!!!- it( the killer) will wait until I left to the feedstore, or to go feed my other pastured horses, and then attacked.. the only protection (besides me and my 12 guage) I have are Toy American Rat Terriers, and I put them in the house (and take them with me) when I leave, so 'neighbor's dog' had free reign to KILL when I'd leave-if I'd known I'd have had my next door neighbor watch them...grrrrrrrrrrrr.
I thought the 1 kill on the day/eve of the 4th was just a - fluke- a' visiting dog'- 'cause there WAS another dog at large that wandered into my yard that I did chase off on the day of the 4th, I thought it belonged to visiting people down the road.
Anyhow- I go on much too much, but I didnt want y'all tthinkin' I was CRAZY for wanting to try those eggs.*sigh* kim

 

[Jarsheart]

I have my mother's beloved rooster. Her town no longer allows chickens. Her plan is to move in my area. Meanwhile, I've had said rooster for a year. Thought I had better keep his line going, so we now have 6 babies from him. I am sure some of *those* are roosters. They are so sweet. So I totally get why you want to hold on to what was lost.

 

[Cattitude]

And I'd sure try it, to have babies from a beloved flock. We've seen weirder things happen here than some old-ish eggs producing chicks!

 

[wolftracks]

I lost my favorite roo a few weeks ago. I pulled eggs from the fridge trying to get one of his sons to hatch, so yeah.........I'd toss them in if it were me, but like I say it's just me.
Must be a Kim thing! LOL
I say take a shot.
Also been thinking. Years ago I would save eggs in a bucket of cornmeal. Sometimes I had them in for a month and then hatched them out. I think I'm going to test that out again and see if it works on chickens.
I don't wash my eggs at all if they are going in the bator. If we're going to eat them I don't wash them till I'm ready to use them.
That being said, I have read where some people will dip eggs in water as they are setting them. Don't know they hatch rate, because I never kept up with it.
Well I'm a big help huh???
Good luck with the new neighbor dog!

BTW

frpm California


Oh and those cheesy styro bators? Yeah they work.

 

[Joey8765]

Someone said it is bad to wash the eggs because it gets rid of natural oils that help sustain humidity and oxygen within the egg, i believe it's true, so I wouldn't do it.

hope that helped,

i guess you could probably get rid of BIG bits of poop.

I wouldnt put eggs in the bator that are over a week old.

joseph

 

[pdsavage]

I have hatched eggs that where 2 weeks old 3 weeks might be pushing it.But hey give it a try what have you got to lose. Incubate em and if in 7 days you see veining then they have a chance.
And if you saw the dog killing the chickens make the niehbor buy u some new ones.