collecting eggs

[mlove]

Yesterday I got my first egg. Yay! Eventually I want to try to incubate a batch. While I am collecting enough eggs to make a batch do I put the eggs in the fridge or leave them at room temperature and how long can I store them before they become infertile?

 

[bigdawg]

first off wait a month are so before incubating new pullet eggs. let them get some size and better chance of being fertile. then collect them and store them small end down in a cool place, room temp is ok, no frigde, and prop up one end of the carton and rotate it once a day from end to end. or if you have a tuner in your bator, preset the temps a week trial run to stablize temps, then unplug bator let it cool down and put the eggs in the turner small end down and let it excerise the eggs. once you have 7 days worth of eggs place the lid on and plug it in. i have went 10 days but most will say no more than 7 days. i hope i havent confused you my brain works faster than my hunt and peck fingers. l.o.l. good luck hatching it is addictive once you start you cant stop...........

 

[detali]

Before you can set a batch of eggs you have to wait for a hen to go broody. That varies with each individual hen. Some breeds don't go broody at all. What breed do you have? Once a hen goes broody then start saving eggs to set a clutch. I assume you have more than one hen. Eggs are good to set up to two weeks old. Keep the eggs you plan to set at room temperature. But until a hen goes broody eat your eggs.

 

[mlove]

Thanks for the helpful info. I currently have 20 silkies, 17 seramas and 7 polish. Wow, when I write it down it sounds like a lot.

I originally told my husband I only wanted 4-6 chickens but I have gotten a tiny bit carried away with chicken math.

Most of my flock is young and I'll be cutting back a tiny bit when I can determine the sex of some of my chicks.

 

[Delta3013]

Ya, wait to the hen goes broody so the eggs start to get bigger, and a better chance to hatch. Good luck when you start setting!

 

[mlove]

Thank you.