how hot can fertile eggs be kept?

[socks]

Hi, as far as I know eggs that you are keeping for a broody hen should be between 10 C. and 15 C (oops! 50-59 F.) Over the last 3 days I've collected eggs, kept them in an open plastic bag (I read they should stay moist) in the basement. I didn't realize the basement is no longer 15 C. but more like 18...er... 64.4 F. and now I wonder if I have been keeping them too warm.

I need one more day to get enough eggs...Please advise, and thanks as always.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

The cooler the better, but so long as they are below eighty degrees Fahrenheit you are safe. Viability over time degrades with increasing temperature though so the cooler the better.

 

[cmom]

I usually store the eggs at room temperature on top of my incubator. I have good hatches but I usually do staggered hatches.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yeah, the "ideal" temperature is somewhere around 55 degrees F. But storing them outside of "ideal" conditions does not mean you are doomed to failure. The more you are outside ideal conditions and the longer you store them, the less likely they are to hatch, but there is not a magic temperature where they automatically go bad. At some point if they are too warm, they can start to develop. I think that is where A. T. is coming from. They won't hatch at those temperatures, but they can start to develop some which can mess up your incubation.

I normally store mine at room temperature, which is well into the 70's in the heat of summer, and I usually get pretty good hatches. I usually collect maybe four days before I set the eggs. Would I get better hatches if I stored them more "correctly"? Maybe, but there is not really a lot of room for improvement. By the way, I store mine in the automatic turner on a dresser top. You don't have to turn them if you store them for just a few days, but it does not hurt.

With the length of time you are storing them (and another day won't hurt) and the conditions you describe, you are doing better than most of us. You should be fine.

 

[socks]

Thanks very much for that everyone. I have just turned them once a day for what that's worth. Well, I'd better go see if she is still on the golf balls I put there yesterday.

 

[Eddy Chicken]

MIne sat out in some 70 -90F weather for a week and they were all good.