Eggs!

[BriBrookMommy00]

I have a hen that is laying already. I have a warm light on her in there pen with her. My question is can I gather that egg everyday that she is laying, bring it inside at room temp. And when she has enough eggs. Put them back and her sit on them?
It is extremely cold and was wanting her to hatch these?!
If so how long are those eggs good at room temperature?

 

[JesNflock]

I have a hen that is laying already. I have a warm light on her in there pen with her. My question is can I gather that egg everyday that she is laying, bring it inside at room temp. And when she has enough eggs. Put them back and her sit on them?
It is extremely cold and was wanting her to hatch these?!
If so how long are those eggs good at room temperature?

Yes! I usually keep them up to a week for the best hatch, I have heard that you can keep them up to 3 weeks but the hatch rate drops each week or so. Maybe someone will share what they have had success with.

Also, do you have a broody hen? I ask because if the hen who is laying isn't broody you may have an issue with getting her to hatch them...She has to want to sit on them for the whole 3 weeks to hatch them.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I have a hen that is laying already. I have a warm light on her in there pen with her. My question is can I gather that egg everyday that she is laying, bring it inside at room temp. And when she has enough eggs. Put them back and her sit on them?
It is extremely cold and was wanting her to hatch these?!
If so how long are those eggs good at room temperature?

You actually want to keep them below room temperature for most average homes - 50ish degrees. Place them pointy end down in an egg carton and elevate one end of the carton on a stack of books or similar item to put it at a 45-ish degree angle. Change which end of the carton is elevated a couple of times a day. Best hatch rates are seen with eggs stored less than 10 days.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

One thing to consider is that your hen needs to be broody in order to have her set and hatch the eggs - meaning she will need to be in the hormonal state of mind that tells her to stop laying and commit to the incubation process. The balancing act you may need to use to make sure you have eggs available if she does go broody is to collect and store all your eggs as though they were for hatching and then mark them so that on the 10th day you rotate that egg to the "eating pool" and replace it with a new egg in the hatching pool - keeping in mind your hen may not go broody. If she is actively laying now she is not broody. The alternative is to put eggs from another hen under her if/when she goes broody (from your own flock or purchased hatching eggs from another source)