Eggs I wanted to Hatch Broke, in refrig.

[2txmedics]

Ok, I read all over and I even had others tell me it was ok to put them in the refrig. until I was ready to incubate my eggs...I had this dz...and I went to check them...was turning the carton a few hrs a day slow, and leaning at an angle...I opened the box, and there cracked!!!!

Like they had frozen!!! I have to start all over again!!!! The temp in the refrig. is 43 but I kept them in a carton....I was told if in the carton, the temp. would be fine as it wouldnt be as cold as in the refrig. out of the carton.

So Question: HOW LONG CAN YOU KEEP EGGS on the counter to hatch in a room that gets lets say, take the extreme here 90
AND how many days??

NEXT QUESTION:
Can you refrig. Egg, if so what temp. and for how long?

Thank god my hens are giving me 7 eggs a day...have 8 hens...this was going to be a test run. Start again collecting, want to start friday, so how do I keep them?

 

[FenDruadin]

Oh no! I have no advice for you, just sympathy. I feel your pain.

While my first batch was busy hatching, I was busy collecting for the next batch. I had over a dozen eggs (and considering that I only have two hens at the moment, that was A LOT of collecting and waiting) sitting in a basket on the countertop, when my toddler pushed a chair over, climbed up, and DROPPED THE ENTIRE BASKET on the floor. Every single egg broken. Along with my heart.

So, anyway. I totally sympathize. Now you have to start all over!

Good luck anyway. I leave mine on the counter, but the house is air conditioned--generally stays around 78 degrees in here. Do you have a cool cupboard, or ... I dunno ... a cooler you could put cool water in to keep the temps lower?

 

[2txmedics]

OOOOhhhhh No!!! Im so sorry on your egg!!! and yes I know your heart broke...here you can have todays eggs I collected

wish it was that simple, I'd be stealing some nice eggs off the net!!!!

 

[Akane]

In a carton will be just as cold as out of a carton. There's no logical reason it wouldn't be. The eggs aren't giving off any heat for the carton to insulate. If anything the eggs may even stay colder because they will reach the temp of the fridge over night and the carton will insulate against increases in temp when the door is opened. I doubt that would be noticeable though unless you have people constantly opening your fridge during the day.

However eggs will not freeze 43F. Eggs won't even freeze at 32F. They are not water and I've hatched eggs taken from my coop when the weather was 0F that weren't frozen and had sat for awhile in there. The eggs did not crack from freezing unless you accidentally put them in the freezer instead.

Something else cracked them.

If you don't want to put them in the fridge then they can sit on the counter for awhile. The ideal temp is in the 60s F and at those temps they will last about a week before hatch rate goes down and most don't suggest waiting more than 10 days. At higher temps you'd probably want to set them a bit sooner for ideal hatch rate. Even if you don't set them that soon or keep them in ideal conditions it doesn't mean none will hatch. It just means fewer will hatch. All the suggestions anyone gives is just to try to get the optimal hatch and does not mean all your eggs will be ruined if they are kept a few degrees different or sit 1 day longer.

 

[FenDruadin]

Awww--what a sweet offer!

It's okay though--I managed to collect another dozen (baker's dozen, actually), and they have now been in the bator over a week. So I got over it.

Those are gorgeous eggs, though. They make me want them, really bad! Let me just reach through that screen...

Any chance your refrigerator temp is wonky? I know stuff will sometimes freeze at the back of our refrigerator, and sometimes even at the front. If the fridge is packed full of stuff, it will sometimes get colder (don't know why--just does) than the thermostat is set for. And sometimes in the drawers it gets colder too. Again, don't know why. Just does.

 

[2txmedics]

what would make them crack?...they all have lines in them, and you can see the frozen eggs...let me see if I can get a picture of them...gonna give them to the dogs tomm...LUCKY THEM...in there food...
maybe the dogs did it!!

 

[Akane]

If they are obviously frozen then it's time to for a new fridge.

Or at least check it out and see what's up with the temp cause it's getting much colder than you think in there. Pretty much everything else should be freezing too and getting damage.

 

[dancingbear]

Those look like they froze. When eggs freeze, they have vertical cracks like that.

That means your fridge was not at 43F.

You may not need a new fridge, though.

You do need a refrigerator/freezer thermometer to check the temp, and change your setting accordingly. Meanwhile, I wouldn't put anything in there I didn't want frozen, even if you turn up the temp a bit.

If you can't get the temp correctly regulated, then think about getting a new one. (Unless of course, you just want a new one anyway) But a thermometer's a heck of a lot cheaper than a new fridge.

I know many advise turning the eggs even before they're set to incubate, but I don't believe you really need to. I don't turn mine until they begin incubating. Before that, there's no embryo to stick to the shell, and if the eggs are upright, small end down, in the carton, that should keep the yolk where it belongs.

 

[2txmedics]

thats how I got the temp reading a themo....I put one in there....

 

[dancingbear]

Sounds like it's not an accurate one. Things don't freeze at 43F. Is it one made for checking fridges?