How long can fresh eggs wait to go in the bator?

[BGCNVLA]

I'll be picking up eggs next Sunday but I don't want to start incubating until the Thursday after. The eggs will be collected before Sunday so I'm guessing they'll be a week old (max) before I start incubating. Is that ok? What conditions should I keep them in while they wait?

 

[Chicky Tocks]

I have read that ten days is the longest and even then your hatch rate will be decreased. Each day beyond 5 is a gamble for sure.

 

[little_grey_bantam]

Stick 'em in the fridge.
I just had a 75% of them that were all doing someting from eggs that had been in the fridge anywhere between 2-4 weeks old (a few were up to 8 weeks old).

But 1-3 days is the best time to put them in the bator!
up to 7 days at mosPr

 

[Ridgerunner]

This site gives a lot of good information about storing and turning eggs for hatching. I highly recommend you read it.

Texas A&M Incubation site
http://gallus.tamu.edu/library/extpublications/b6092.pdf

You don't want to store eggs in the refrigerator. The best place is probably the coolest room in your house. If you have a turner for your incubator, you can put the turner in the coolest room, plug it in and store our egg that way. You never have to remember if you turned your eggs or not plus you are not contaminating your eggs by handling them. (I stole that idea from JoeBryant who stole it from someone else, one of the Dawn's, I believe.)

Don't overstress if you don't follow the recommendations to the exact letter. These recommendations are ways to improve your hatch rate. If you violate some of them it does not mean that no eggs will hatch. They are just ways to improve your odds that more will hatch.

I personally don't follow every recommendation to the letter. I just do the best I can with my situation. I can't do much better.

 

[sonew123]

I have some in bator that I threw in just to see at 2 weeks old in fridge-growing like weeds on day 15