*How long can fertile eggs sit??*

[AlienChick]

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[TaylorHobbyFarms]

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I have hatched some off our farm that I held for 12 days, just so I could get a bigger hatch. I still had a 95% fertility rate. But over all I would try to get hatching eggs that have been held for 7 days or less.

 

[Tripp16]

I think these are about 5 days. Maybe. I will find out today.

 

[Gypsy07]

I get good hatches with eggs from my own birds that are 14-24 days old. That's done purely as an experiment though, and with careful thought given to hygiene procedures, safe collection and ideal storage conditions. If I was paying for fertile hatching eggs I'd expect them to be no more than three or four days old. Unless there was a very good reason for them to be older, such as the birds being a very rare breed and the person I was buying them from only having two hens, meaning it would take them longer than normal to collect a dozen eggs for me. In that case, I'd probably ask for the laying date/date of collection to be marked on each egg, so I could compare hatch rates of the fresher and the older eggs...

If your eggs are less than a week old, you should do fine with them.