hatching eggs after refrigeration

[dadsgirl]

i was told that you could store fertilized eggs in the frig until you got ready to incubate them , is this true??? if so how long can you hold them before incubation, and how long would you let them warm up before putting in incubator??? thanks, angie

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

They are supposed to be kept around 45 degrees. I think a fridge would be too cold.

 

[92caddy]

Ive hatched eggs that were in the frig for 2 weeks, 10 out of 12 hatched.............

 

[snowydiamonds]

From what I understand, birds don't sit on eggs until they've laid a clutch. The first few eggs are not refrigerated while the hen is building her clutch of eggs from daily laying. Also, a friend who has a flock of miniatures or bantams has in the past collected fertile eggs to incubate but refrigerated the first ones until she felt she had the amount to incubate, only to hatch chicks with deformities, which happened consistently. I would not refrigerate prior to incubating. It was very heartbreaking for her to hatch out chicks w/deformities.

 

[arlee453]

The fridge is too cold for optimum storage before incubating. However, having said that, plenty of people here have incubated store-bought eating eggs marked 'fertile' and they've hatched out chicks. Those eggs were stored at just above freezing temps for days or weeks and still hatched.

Frankly, I store my silkie eggs at room temp (70-73 with the air running) and they hatch just fine - 100% hatch rate so far.

I think there are 'optimum' conditions, and then there's the reality of the real world. The good news is that chicken eggs are VERY forgiving of all the ups and downs they go through.