Eggs

[WVman]

How long can I store eggs before I put them in the bator? Also how do I store them can I just place them out on the counter? One last thing do I need to was my eggs real good and clean before they go into the bator, I saw some pics on here of other folks eggs and some looked very dirty in the bator. Thanks for your help

 

[calgal98]

I don't *store* my eggs when they arrive. I let them sit for 12-24 hours, a bit longer if waiting on other eggs to arrive and then put them in the bator. I store them at room temperature large end up. I don't wash eggs. I will scrape off excess dirt, but remember that eggshells are porous. If they get wet some of that moisture can make its way through the shell and with it any bacteria from the dirt/feces. That's why you see some dirty eggs in incubators.

This is for shipped eggs, which is all I've ever done.

Have fun incubating! I've got 12 in the brooder, 6-7 pipped and more hanging in...waiting for hatching!

 

[Gypsy07]

Have a look at this guide: http://gallus.tamu.edu/library/extpublications/b6092.pdf

It's got loads of really interesting information about storing eggs and washing eggs.

According to the official guides, hatchability of stored eggs starts to decrease after 7 days, but I've had very good hatch rates from eggs that are up to two weeks old. Washing/not washing eggs is something that most people on here feel quite strongly about one way or the other. I've set batches of eggs that included some washed in bleach, some rinsed in hot water, and some unwashed, and I haven't noticed any significant difference in hatch rates. Best thing is to start with eggs that are as clean as possible, so if it's eggs from your own hens, clean the nest boxes out every day and collect eggs a few times a day so there's less opportunity for them to be kicked about by muddy chicken feet!

 

[WVman]

Thanks you all. I wanna hatch some duck eggs but my hen only lays one egg a day.

 

[Marthab1953]

I used to raise ducks and I have kept them up to 2 weeks before i incubated them and they did fine. i just kept them in a cool room and turned them each day.

 

[Gypsy07]

Quote:
I was in the same position recently just wanting to hatch out eggs from the one chicken. I set 8, then another 6, then another 10, over a period of maybe three weeks. I did a big staggered hatch and got 12 chicks from it in total.

You could either try that, or collect for two weeks then set them all at once. You probably won't get as good a hatch rate as you would with fresher eggs, but you should be able to easily beat the average hatch rate for shipped eggs. Shipping is much worse for eggs than storing, especially if you store them carefully and correctly. I think the advice for storing duck eggs is exactly the same as for chicken eggs. Maybe you could ask on the Waterfowl section of this forum just to be sure...