Firtile Egg Questions

[Jashdon]

I was just wondering how to handle firtile eggs for hatching. How long can they be stored after being laid before they are no longer viable? Should they be stored at room temperature or in a refrigerator?

 

[bugladyleah]

Fertile eggs should always be stored at room temp...never in frig. Preferably in a cooler room. Turn them a few times a day to prevent the yolk from sticking. From what I have read, the hatch rate starts to decrease after 10 days, so I'd get them cooking before then. If you need help incubating, here is a great link: http://www.msstate.edu/dept/poultry/hatch.htm#cond

Good luck!

Leah

 

[kellim]

I have stored hatching eggs in the fridge and had them hatch out fine. Though I usually sit them in the same room as my incubator and keep them up to 10 days before putting in bator. I have read on a university site that they have kept them up to 3 to 4 weeks and then incubated them with good results though I have never tried this. I have noticed that my broody hens have layed an egg a day for 10 or more days and then decided to set so that would be waiting almost 2 weeks and those have all hatched too. I wouldn't wait more than 14 days to put them in a bator though just to be on the safe side.

edited to add site: http://cindasbluejerseygiants.com/WashHatchEggs.html

This site has lots of egg washing ideas. If you scroll down and skim read there is a part about storing in fridge as well as how long you can store eggs and them still be viable. HTH.

 

[Jashdon]

Thanks for posting the info guys.