How long can fertile chicken eggs keep before putting them in the incubator

[newbiechickie]

My incubator is full and I am still getting approximately 3 eggs daily. How long can I keep the eggs that I am gathering before putting them in the incubator. The eggs are from feather-footed bantams. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[RooRidgeFarm]

This may not be popular to most on BYC but....
I have incubated eggs up to a MONTH old. And gotten very good hatch rate on them.
Yes, it appears that better results would come from 'fresh' eggs no more than 14 days old, but that has not been my experience. I tend to be 'no guts, no glory' when it comes to hatching. If I am incubating to increase a particular breed, more often than not I will try the eggs up to a month old as long as they are clean, stored pointy end down, cool, not too cold or too warm, amd I even will include a dampened cloth or paper towel in the styro egg storage container to keep the eggs from dehydrating.

What led me to the conclusion that eggs could be incubated a month after being laid is this:
Years ago, I had a wonderful, constantly broody gamehen that would collect and hide eggs until she was ready to sit. I had some chicks hatch from one of her sneaky stashes and the rooster and hen parents of a different breed had been looong gone (sold as a pair). Examining the shells showed that several eggs had been in her stash awhile and they were the shape, size and color of the pair that I had let go.
So, I decided, that if a hen could save eggs in the outdoors for that amount of time, AND hatch them successfully, then I guessed that I might be able to also.

A note also, my hens loved stashing the eggs outdoors when they freeranged, and the eggs went through temp changes, high and low humidity, and even had surface soil, but they still managed to hatch all chicks successfully with no casualties.

That has been my experience. I am always willing to give a try regardless of egg age, as long as the air cell is intact, it has no major soiling, has been stored to the best of my ability

 

[ChucktheChick]

This may not be popular to most on BYC but....
I have incubated eggs up to a MONTH old. And gotten very good hatch rate on them.
Yes, it appears that better results would come from 'fresh' eggs no more than 14 days old, but that has not been my experience. I tend to be  'no guts, no glory' when it comes to hatching. If I am incubating to increase a particular breed, more often than not I will try the eggs up to a month old as long as they are clean, stored pointy end down, cool, not too cold or too warm, amd I even will include a dampened cloth or paper towel in the styro egg storage container to keep the eggs from dehydrating.

What led me to the conclusion that eggs could be incubated a month after being laid is this:
Years ago, I had a wonderful, constantly broody gamehen that would collect and hide eggs until she was ready to sit. I had some chicks hatch from one of her sneaky stashes and the rooster and hen parents of a different breed had been looong gone (sold as a pair). Examining the shells showed that several eggs had been in her stash awhile and they were the shape, size and color of the pair that I had let go.
So, I decided, that if a hen could save eggs in the outdoors for that amount of time, AND hatch them successfully, then I guessed that I might be able to also.

A note also, my hens loved stashing the eggs outdoors when they freeranged, and the eggs went through temp changes, high and low humidity, and even had surface soil, but they still managed to hatch all chicks successfully with no casualties.

That has been my experience. I am always willing to give a try regardless of egg age, as long as the air cell is intact, it has no major soiling, has been stored to the best of my ability

 

[chickengeorgeto]

hatchiblity holds up to day 7. After that the chances of the egg hatching is greatly reduced. by day 14 hatchibility will be about 50%. It's also important to store the eggs with the pointy end facing down.

The above is true but also...........................
Keep your setting eggs in a dark and quite place at 55 degrees and 65% humidity. Turn the eggs 1, 3, 5, 7, or 9 times daily. Discard all imperfect eggs as soon as they are laid by having them for breakfast. An egg 21 days old while still sellable at Whole Foods, is usually a waste of time if you want to hatch it.

The truth of Emma14's post is that 15 eggs have long been the number of eggs supposedly in a setting of hen eggs.

 

[Emma14]

hatchiblity holds up to day 7. After that the chances of the egg hatching is greatly reduced. by day 14 hatchibility will be about 50%. It's also important to store the eggs with the pointy end facing down.

 

[MommaBee]

I set 10- 12 day old eggs, 9 days ago and I have stuff going on in them! But I would't recommend that! I think Emma up there has it right!!

 

[RooRidgeFarm]

Candling regularly is your best friend when incubating older eggs. It's always good to check development and remove any that aren't progressing so they don't foul the incubator.
You should also pencil the older ones with the date or a symbol, so you can keep an eye on those particular eggs by candling more.

 

[newbiechickie]

Thank you all so much! I have not had the best of luck for some reason on my hatching rate. I have set over 50 eggs and only had 5 hatch, many of the others were fully formed but died in the egg. I have a little giant still air incubator. I am not sure what I am doing wrong on this side either. I turn them 2 or 3 times a day and keep the trays full of warm water and also have a consistent temperature of 99.5.

 

[RooRidgeFarm]

Hi newbiechickie,
It sounds like you are doing it right. What you may want to consider is the actual fertility.How many hens per rooster? And, when you candle the eggs ( at least by day 7) are they all showing veins and embryos?
Lastly, and most importantly...have the adults been tested for illness? Many poultry diseases can cause fertility problems, and death of the embryo-early death or death around day 18ish. Past exposure to illness can affect reproduction in the bird and viability of the egg/embryo. You can't 'see' viruses, bacteria etc. Even if they have never had symptoms, they could have had past exposure and be carriers of disease. I am not trying to scare you-it's just a reality that may be a genuine factor in your case.

 

[newbiechickie]

Thank you RooRidgeFarm, I have 3 hens to 1 rooster ratio (this is all the chickens I have) my family and I have just started raising baby chicks in the last 2 months. I have done a ton of research on everything trying to get things right with the incubation and hatching. I never even thought the hens/rooster could be my problem, I was leaning toward something wrong with the bator. I did however have a baby chick hatch last night and it didn't seem like it was doing the best, it wouldn't get up and move around and just laid on its side for hours. I finally gave up and went to bed and figured by morning it would be dead, but when I came in to check on it this morning it was happy and moving around the bator just fine, and another one hatched about 15 minutes ago and is already trying to stand.