How long can a fertile egg last without an incubator?

[Egghead_Jr]

Fat end up in egg carton in your most humid room. Air cells develop fat end, why we put that end up. Higher humidity will retard the growth of cell making all eggs laid from start of collection to putting in incubator near the same percent moisture loss.

 

[Ryguy3684]

I lay them on their side....and roll them a little each day.

Same here. I always figured that's the way they lay in the nest, so mama hen knows best.

 

[SueT]

Same here. I always figured that's the way they lay in the nest, so mama hen knows best.

Right, and even my incubator has you place them on their side to incubate as well. It slowly rolls them.

 

[Ryguy3684]

Right, and even my incubator has you place them on their side to incubate as well. It slowly rolls them.

Same here. My old incubator stood them on end, but my new Nuture Right 360 rolls them on their side. I like it much better.

 

[abpatchy]

I usually collect for 2 weeks. Now if my breeding group did not provide enough eggs... maybe they (or me) broke some... or they were not the right size, or too dirty... I might collect up to 3 weeks. Of course you won't get the fertility as if they were fresh, but you will still get chicks out of it.

 

[sdm111]

I have repeatedly hatched chicken eggs after storing them for 21 days. They should be stored with the small end up at around 50°. But for a few days, room temperature will not bother them.

Small end up? Where is this from?
I would think twice about this information

 

[MysteryChicken]

I don't hatch geese, or have any. But I've stored eggs for 3 weeks many times in the refrigerator before incubating them. My hatch rate with Refrigerated eggs is around 97% - 98% - 99%.

 

[spartacus_63]

Small end up? Where is this from?
I would think twice about this information

Yes small end up. In this case, since the storage is short, it would not matter which end was up.

There are many reasons folks feel it is best to store hatching eggs small end down, but none of them are really relevant for short term (7-8 days or less) storage. Storing eggs small end up helps to keep the yolk from contacting and sticking to the shell membrane by keeping it in contact with the albumen.

I have researched this issue through several agribusiness corporations that deal with poultry at all levels. They did the research, not I. It was found that, for long term storage, storing eggs with the small end up produced much better results than small end down. It also found there was no increased performance if the eggs were turned or not. So turn them or not, you will get the same results. It also found that 50° was the optimal temperature for storage at 21 days. This was accompanied with two days at room temperature to "warm' the eggs prior to placing them in the incubator. I store all of my hatching eggs at 50°, until two days prior to setting them in the incubator, regardless of how long they are to be stored.

With this information I have used this method over many hatches and I maintain a 87% hatch rate with a 94% fertility rate. This reduces that amount of time I need to dedicate to incubation and reduces the number of clutches I need to be able to in incubate at any given time.

So, even if you doubt this technique, chances are that if one did use it, they would not realize decreased hatch performance based on any experience I have shared.