Ebay Eggs

[myillinoispets]

If I got fertile eggs from, Ebay would I still need to keep them in 55-60 degrees f? Or just put them in the incubator straight away?

 

[ChocolateMouse]

I'd let them rest for one day at room temp pointy end down before popping them in the incubator. This is true for all shipped eggs. It's to help any loose aircells reattach after their rough journey.

Not sure why you think 55-60F is ideal, but room temperature should be fine.

 

[myillinoispets]

I'd let them rest for one day at room temp pointy end down before popping them in the incubator. This is true for all shipped eggs. It's to help any loose aircells reattach after their rough journey.

Not sure why you think 55-60F is ideal, but room temperature should be fine.

Oh, I read online that you should keep them at 55 to 65 degrees for 7-10 days before putting them in. Then when you put them in ideal temp should be at 99.5 to 100f. Thanks for letting me know!

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Oof! Definitely don't do that!
At 7-10 days the viability of the eggs starts to drop rapidly regardless of how it's stored. Viability is high days 1-5, peaks at day 5 then starts to slowly go down until about 8-9 days when it begins to rapidly plummet below 90%.
https://academic.oup.com/ps/article/86/5/1020/1620704
Here's one citation on it. And mind, when I say peaks, I mean it goes from 93% viability to like 96% viability. Then around day 7-8 it plummets. (I can't find the graph I saw on it before that showed this.)

Chances are good ordering eggs online they'll show up at around 5-6 days old. A couple days for the breeder gathering the eggs, a couple days for shipping and one day of rest will probably put you right around the 6-7 day mark where it's now or never for incubating. So please don't rest your eggs for more than a day! If you wait 7-10 days a lot of those eggs will be dead as a doornail.

 

[Kiki]

When I receive eggs in the mail I don't wait...they go straight into my incubator.

I would not let them sit out longer than one day.

 

[Phunktacular]

Oh, I read online that you should keep them at 55 to 65 degrees for 7-10 days before putting them in. Then when you put them in ideal temp should be at 99.5 to 100f. Thanks for letting me know!

I believe, the general rule is, you can store them for 7-10 days after the day they were laid. As you reach and go beyond the 7th day and approach the 10th day, you'll begin to lose odds of an egg hatching. The main reason to store the eggs is for those who cannot fill their incubator with single days worth of egg collection and would like to start them together and all hatch at same time. However, remember that the eggs you collected on day 1 may be 7 days old on day 7, the ones you collected on day 6 are only 1. Remember to turn the eggs while waiting to put in incubator, too..

Also, the purpose of letting them rest for a day after shipping is to allow the yolk and air pocket to settle back into proper position inside the egg. They can get jostled pretty good coming through the mail and it's supposed to help with hatch rates. MyShire Farm sends instructions to let the eggs rest for a day after receiving them, as well. Remember to rotate them every couple of hours to mimic the incubator, as well. What I do is just leave them in the foam and take turns propping each side of the box until the next morning. I never wait a full 24 hours before putting in the incubator.