Doing an experiment

[sara]

Well I have this little araucana broody. She doesn't want to give up. She was sitting on air, so I decided I would give her some eggs. I had no purebred eggs to give her(the girls all took a 2 day break), so I took some out of the fridge that I know are from my black ameraucanas. I came up with 5. I let them rest to room temp and took them out and put them under her. I wonder if any will hatch.. She has had them about 3 days so I will candle next week. I don't want her to fail, but I had no other eggs and I felt bad for her to just sit on air.

 

[Nu2Chicks]

They could hatch, kinda depends on how long they were in the fridge. I've had bob white
quail eggs hatch coming from the fridge, and long after they should have been able to.

How lucky you have a nice broody hen. Bet you made her happy today.

let us know how they do, k?

jo

 

[cgmccary]

I've heard a number of people say they hatched them after storing them in the fridge. I tried once with a couple of eggs, and they did not hatch (could have been for other reasons though as that whole clutch was poor). I always read in the literature that they won't hatch. Maybe it depends on the temp of your fridge, how long stored, etc. Out of curiosity, I'd measure the temp in the fridge where they sat.

Anyway, I'm very interested to know if they hatch & I hope they do (prove the experts/pundits wrong)! Please keep us posted.

 

[sara]

They were in the fridge maybe 2 days I would say. I figured it would be a fun little experiment.

 

[Shaffer]

Sara,
I just hatched black Ameraucanas from eggs I had in the refrigerator(up to 2 weeks old) and got over 50% to hatch in my incubator. I have noticed that most eggs will hatch under a broody better than in an incubator under adverse conditions. My black Araucanas are also broody now and I have one with eggs under her even though the weather is not perfect she refused to stop being broody, and a few more are acting like they are getting ready to be broody. I had a few more LF Lavender Ameraucanas hatch this week and more due next week. You should be good with your hatch. Good luck, Harry

 

[Nu2Chicks]

I bet they hatch. 2 days isn't very long in the fridge. Did you collect them and put them in
the fridge on the same day or thereabouts?

 

[sara]

Quote:
thanks Harry, that gives me hope. I'm in withdraw since I can't put anything in the incubator. So since she wants to sit I figured it was worth a try. This is one of the small black araucana pullets I got from you. I can't wait for lavender babies! My order from John ships on the 31st!! Of course they will be bantam lavenders.

 

[Shaffer]

Sara,
If you get some fresh eggs from the black Ameraucanas today/Sunday you can add them under as long as they are only 1 day apart plus sometimes the eggs from the refrigerator hatches a day late. That hen should be able to handle 7 or 8 eggs, if it was one of the bigger black pullets she should be able to handle 10-12 eggs in this weather. You should have a good hatch. Harry