I went out this morning and the new araucana/ameraucana (not sure which she is) hen laid a nice green egg this morning. But when I picked it up, it as cold as the eggs in my fridge. I have it resting big side up (this is what I was told years ago to do to settle the bubble or something like that I gues). But should I go ahead and put it in the incubator/ Or in the fry'n pan?
lol. There are no other eggs in the bator, so no wories about that. Thanks for any help.
I have a story for you..complete with a few pics, except camera broke in the end , went to take a pic of frozen eggs that a broody hen abandoned,and the horse for a freind of mine and the whole top popped off the camera , thats how cheap they make things anymore, but heres the long story short. did use a pen point to take the pic of the egg I broght in and candled befor putting them in bator. then gave up on that camera.
well the hen didnt abandon the eggs, she left for a few mins to do her potty and eat and drink and forgot which egg group was hers..temp outside was 11 degrees went down to 0 overnight. I didnt know at that time she had switched spots and they sat over night, there were only three eggs that were left when I shipped to another state and didnt want to put them in 1/2 way finished bator hatch so gave them to broody..One egg was cracked all the way down side when I went in to feed in the morning ,frozen solid , the other 2 were ice cold and I mean like ice cream cold..I gave her the uncracked eggs and you could see a 6 day or so old embryo in the cracked egg., and the I kept an eye on her..she does forget where her eggs are, there are 3 nest boxes to choose from.
Here is the weather in NY , we have had all of March be a lion.
Most of the eggs I picked up were very cold , , thou I tried to pick them up right out of the chicken, A lot of times I got them as soon as they got up but a few..a little icey..
Set 20 eggs, including the very cold ones they had been stored in back room between 55 and 60 degrees and turned several times a day..then befor setting moved to a warmer location on kitchen counter top, then moved into bator.. Forgive , cause Im trying to make a pretty long story short..
Out of 20 eggs, 15 were fertile which in this weather was a little suprising..all but one hatched, a few hatched a little later on and the eggs that had been under the broody I finnaly moved into the bator and they are now in the brooder. I did really have a hard time controling humiity with only 2 eggs in that LG..you have to be a mad scientist to run those and almost stand over it..It really is amazing how an egg can survive something like that..I think extream heat is more hamful than cold..Cold can be dangerous too, and honestly I have no idea why those frozen eggs hatched. but they did..I wasnt too sure what was going to happen .here they are hatching.
This was one of the eggs that I had moved to the bator from the broody, I was afraid while I was at work she would jump off and forget which box was hers..you can see it had gone on and developed past the 6 days from the last time I looked which was after I found them ice cold. This was just beofr I put it in the incubator to give myself a little peace of mind.
Here are some of the chicks in the brooder, it was a bit of a staggered hatch so we knew the rest were going to be a day and 2 longer so moved these guys to brooder..those eggs were marked so I knew they were going to be a little later on.That little one on the left sitting like buddah looked little like a wooley mammoth when it hatched..cant imagine why..Hope that makes you feel better about cold eggs.
If your hen just started laying, it might not hatch afterall. My Silkie has been laying for over a month now and we still have not had any fertile eggs. I've tried by both incubation and cracking the egg open to see if they have been fertilized. So far, nothing... She is in there with 2 other Easter Egger hens and 1 Silkie rooster.
I just a few minutes ago had a little Silkie hatch.
Went to pick up some Wheaten Marans eggs to hatch 3 weeks ago and they had some nice Silkies. I asked if I could buy some Silkie eggs and they had put all of them in the refrigerator that morning. This was late afternoon. Well, I liked the Silkies, so said I'd try and hatch a few. She gave me 3 cold little Silkie eggs to try. At 11 days one was clear, so I chucked it. I kind of forgot about the other two when I locked down two days ago. Left them in the bator. Imagine my surprise when I checked my bator this morning and it peeped at me. The little Silkie egg had already pipped. Supposed to hatch tomorrow. I snagged both the eggs and snuck them in my hatcher.
I know... don't open the hatcher after lockdown. Anyhow, the cutest little black or dark gray Silkie zipped and is now running around my hatcher hollaring. Hope the other egg makes it too. At least I know eggs can hatch after being refrigerated for 10 hours. lol Such fun hatching chicks, alway something new to learn.
Yep! Theres a whole bunch of people on here who incubate the store bought eating eggs... The Farmer Joes free range ones. Who knows how long they have been frigerated for... but people still get them to hatch! Not at a great rate very often, mind you, but hey!
Yes, you can add eggs as the hatch progresses but they you'll have a 'staggered hatch' which makes for a difficult lockdown if you only have 1 bator. If you have 2...you're set!
My eggs were actually medicated!
I made DH scrambled eggs one morning and he said "these taste funny" suddenly it hit me! I had given 1 of my hens antibiotics and we weren't supposed to eat those eggs! lol I have 2 of that breed of hen, no way of knowing who laid which egg....so I grabbed all 10 eggs out of the refrigerator and set them on the counter to warm up. I put them all in the bator that night and every one hatched! I found a new use for medicated eggs too....I used to just throw them in the compost. Now we know they can hatch!
lol. There are no other eggs in the bator, so no wories about that. Thanks for any help.
Hope that makes you feel better about cold eggs.
