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

[biblebecky]

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

Hi, what temperature do you store your eggs at?

 

[biblebecky]

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

Hi, what temperature do you store your eggs at?

 

[biblebecky]

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

Hi, what temperature do you store your eggs at?

 

[biblebecky]

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

Hi, what temperature do you store your eggs at?

 

[TOR]

Hi, what temperature do you store your eggs at?

Hi, This is old thread from 2013. I store mine at room temperature in a egg carton. I store them pointy side down. Have the carton leaning about 30 to 40 degrees up and rotate the egg carton or try 3 times a day The end which is up I rotate with the side which is down.
Mine are 65 to 70 degrees.

Hope this helps