Collecting, storing and setting our own eggs

[aran]

Hi guys..well we have been getting a good 3-4 eggs/day from the girls for the last 3-4weeks i guess..I have some eggs from cynthia coming in the mail and thought I would store up some of our own eggs and hatch some mutts at the same time as cynthias...how do i go about doing that? I ahve 3 eggs from today...should i put them in the fridge or leave them outside in the screen room at 40-55deg until i have a good dozen or so collected? How long can i wait before i need to set them? Do i need to turn them even though they are not in the bator yet? The girls have 2 roos in with them...an ameraucana and a RIR...the girls that are laying are a RIR, a barred rock and a re sex link....any answers would be great.

aran

 

[speckledhen]

Hi, Aran. The best way to store them is between 50 and 65 degrees. Don't let them go cooler than 45, though, and not in the fridge. The fridge is too cold and too dry. Sound like your screen room may be too cold at night. How about a cooler with one of those blue ice pack things if you don't have a really good place? That's what I do when my bsmt is too hot, like this summer. You can store them up to two weeks, but for the best hatchability, no more than 7-10 days, if possible. You only need to tilt them back and forth if you store them longer than 7 days, but I usually do it anyway when I store them in my bsmt.

 

[aran]

sweet thanks cynthia...i have 3 so far..i will put them in the basement then since it is probably in the 50s down there the whole time...so just tilt them once or twice a day in the egg carton? This is so exciting its crazy...by the way the predator continues to be a problem..no deaths or injuries because the birds are on nocturnal lockdown but the time has come to move from the havahart trap to a kill trap. Im ordering them tonight. How are the girls doing with the egg laying thing?

 

[speckledhen]

The girls are laying very well, except for my older Blue Orp pullet, Velvet, who is continuing her vacation. Both Ameraucanas lay about every day as well as Skye. If they keep this up, you'll have your dozen, I think, plus a couple more Ameraucanas for good measure.
Yes, just tilt the carton. That's what I do.

 

[aran]

awesome! what do you think about the dry incubation idea cynthia...do you think its the way to go ?

 

[speckledhen]

I think it can be good in general. My very first hatch was one where I allowed the humidity to go down to 25% several times and usually kept it between 35-50%; yes, I did measure the humidity because it's just not in my nature to fly completely blind, if you get my drift. I would say those values constitute dry incubation, though. Now, that was also in January, so the weather was already dry so I had to add water to keep it up that high. If it had been in July, probably I wouldn't have had to add much water, if any, the entire time to accomplish dry incubation. It certainly does work for alot of people.