So about half a week after the eggs have been laid, but the eggs in the fridge at 7.2 C (45 F) for a week, then let 'settle' for half a day (?) Then chuck 'em in the incubator?
I either warm them up for about 30mins, or stick them right in the incubator, or under a broody hen without warm up time.
Okay. I'm gonna try this!! In a few months though...
Sounds good. I've been doing this method for years.
Thats really intreating. I want to try breeding next summer, and selling chicks, so I'll have to refrigerate my eggs as well.
Yeah, same. I just have to wait for the chicks to grow up... another 2 or 3 months of waiting...
Update on what your results are, when you do?
Not sure if this only applies to chilled eggs or what, but out of my shipped egg hatches I've had the perfect male to female ratio. Out of 3 surviving Serama eggs- 2:1 ratio. Could be better with larger numbers, but additional breeding can fix that.
Try to get exact fridge temperature, exact about of time in the fridge etc. Maybe even try half in the fridge for a few days or a week, and half in the fridge for multiple weeks and see if one works better. You'd have to mark the eggs with colors to show the separate half, then leg band the chicks from each half once they hatched so you know who was from what half.
