fact or fiction ?

[tanyaben]

we live in south texas,approximately 12 miles from the border;needless to say, it is very humid!we have had limited successes with our broody hens, and have learned by trial and error about seperating them and such...recently, a friend of my husbands told him,that when he has a broody hen and wants more eggs for her(say shes sitting on 8 and he wants ten),he has a friend who refrigerates eggs until he wants to put them under a hen...has anyone else heard of this?if so, at what temp. must the eggs be refrigerated,and how long can you keep them refrigerated before they become unusable?our friend swears this works, that he has never gotten an unhatchable egg...any info would be appreciated

 

[kleber]

very interesting. I would really like to see if anyone knows anything about this.

 

[ReikiStar]

There are people who hatch out fertilized eggs they get from Trader Joe's. Maybe find out what temperature grocery stores maintain for their egg displays and use a similar temp.

 

[gryeyes]

Refrigerated eggs CAN be incubated and hatched, in incubators and under broody hens. I wouldn't expect really chilled eggs over two weeks old to hatch really well.

They don't have to be refrigerated, either; they can be kept in a cool space around 45-50 degrees for about 2 weeks. Viability drops after that.

I have hatched Trader Joe's eggs myself, as an experiment. I have three hens and a rooster (White Leghorns) over a year old in my flock now, which I hatched on New Year's Day 2011; just four out of 2 dozen TJs eggs hatched. You gotta find the freshest of the fertile, "grocery" eggs.

 

[Breshcandra]

I had 9 eggs that I had in the refergerator for over a week then they sat on the counter for another week because the silkie was not sure if she was broody or not. Then when she finally went broody she sat on the eggs. for 2 weeks. I candle the eggs and every single one of them had a moving chick inside.

 

[rgvchicks]

hola...i'm from south texas also, Roma to be exact, a friend of mine added to his bator 30 eggs his wife had bought at a flea market where they were selling "huevos de rancho" "fresh farm eggs"...anyway they had them in the refrigerator for about a week or so and i told him i had read a thread here on BYC where they sweared that regrigerated eggs could be hatched....well he candled those eggs and out of the 30 18 eggs were developing...so i guess it's true.

we live in south texas,approximately 12 miles from the border;needless to say, it is very humid!we have had limited successes with our broody hens, and have learned by trial and error about seperating them and such...recently, a friend of my husbands told him,that when he has a broody hen and wants more eggs for her(say shes sitting on 8 and he wants ten),he has a friend who refrigerates eggs until he wants to put them under a hen...has anyone else heard of this?if so, at what temp. must the eggs be refrigerated,and how long can you keep them refrigerated before they become unusable?our friend swears this works, that he has never gotten an unhatchable egg...any info would be appreciated

 

[Brickman House]

Yes, fertilized eggs that have been refrigerated can be hatched.

Of course, it isn't ideal, and hatch rates can be SUBSTANTIALLY reduced, but it can happen.

I don't know WHY you would want to intentionally try to hatch refrigerated eggs absent special circumstances. I know some people try to hatch Trader Joe's or Whole Foods fertilized eggs for fun, and some have set eggs from special hens who have died suddenly, and the only eggs they have from that hen were already in the fridge, but why would you do it in your circumstances?

If you want your hens to sit more eggs than they can lay, and you have a friend with fertile eggs, just get a few days worth of his eggs. There is no need for them to be refrigerated.