How long can an egg sit after it was laid before a chick forms?

[007Dawn]

And does refrigerating it stop the process? Kind of curiouse how all that takes place. If you don't mind.

Thank you.

 

[warmfuzzies]

A chick will never form unless the egg is being incubated. It has to be kept warm for the chick to start developing. And refridgeration will in most cases kill a fertile egg, so that even if you incubated it it would not grow.

You eat your fertile eggs just like reguler eating eggs. They are the same untill they sit at 100 deg for awhile.

 

[007Dawn]

Thank you!

 

[RendonRoo]

A broody hen will lay for about a week and collect several eggs. When she thinks she has enough she will start to set the eggs. They will all start developing at the same time and will hatch within a day or two of each other. Hope this answers your question. O Yea....Welcome to BYC

 

[Akane]

Refrigeration will not kill a fertile egg. In fact I've hatched some that were near freezing point over the winter. I also had a 95% hatch on some quail eggs that were in the fridge from 1-14days. It was proven somewhere that if you aren't going to set the eggs within the preferred 7 day period you actually get a higher hatch rate if they were refrigerated. That's still a lower hatch rate than if you kept them at optimal conditions and set them within 7 days but it's far from killing them.

Nothing will grow in an egg until at least the high 90s F. The longer an egg sits without being incubated the less likely it will hatch. It's best to start incubating them within 7-10days of being laid.