How long can I store eggs before starting incubation?

[cracker53]

In Florida, room at 80-85 degrees, how long can I store eggs before starting incubation.
How should I store eggs, in cartons? should I turn them? Please advise.

 

[SIMZ]

Using them within a week is best, but you can technically store them for 2-3 weeks, but your hatch rate will be reduced.

Try to find a cooler place to store them - like around 60-70. I place them pointy side down in an egg carton. Then I slightly elevate one end of the carton (like stand one end on a ledge or something). Each day or twice a day I turn the carton around, so the eggs are being moved.

I hope that helps!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Do you have any place that's any cooler? Those temperatures are getting into dangerous territory.

Under ideal conditions you can store eggs for about two weeks before there is a drop-off in hatchability. It's not a case that all embryos die at a certain time or under certain conditions, it's that the number of eggs that hatch gradually declines. Ideal conditions are about 55 degrees F and high humidity. The first few days you don't need to turn them but soon you do. There is no set time for how long that is, it depends some on the individual egg.

A hen can hide a nest, lay a clutch of eggs over a two week or even longer period, and get practically all the eggs to hatch. Those eggs are not always at ideal conditions. Those hens are much better at this than we will ever be.

The purpose of turning is to keep the yolk centered, not let it sag to one side. You also want to store them either pointy side down in a carton or laying flat. That's to keep the air cell on the fat end where it is supposed to be. If you store them flat, put a mark on each side and just roll them over. If you store them pointy side down, rotate the egg about 45 degrees one way then 45 degrees the other so you are going through about 90 degrees each turning. A normal way to do that is SIMZ' method, put one end on a block of wood or something else to elevate it. I take the turner out of my incubator and store them in that so it turns them. Plenty of people turn by hand.

The further you are away from ideal conditions the shorter the storage times. If the humidity is low you can lose a fair amount of moisture through the porous shell before incubation even starts. So the older eggs start out needing to lose less moisture than the fresher eggs. There is a pretty wide range of moisture loss that works during incubation but there are limits.

The embryo is alive when the egg is laid and it is really tough. It's kind of hard to kill it unless you go to extremes. If the egg gets too cold it can die. How cold is too cold? Hard to say, it will vary egg to egg. Obviously freezing is not good. The closer you get to freezing the worse it is. It's not a case of every embryo dying at a certain temperature, it's the colder they get the fewer are likely to hatch. Different refrigerators are set at different temperatures and different spots inside the refrigerator keep different temperatures. Some people in hot climates store their hatching eggs in the refrigerator and have great hatches, but some also don't have great hatches. With college just starting it's the wrong time of the year, but can you find one of those tiny refrigerators at a garage sale or on Craigslist cheap and set the temp pretty warm? Humidity inside a refrigerator is typically pretty low though.

A cycle of warming up and cooling down is hard on the embryo. It's best to try to maintain a steady temperature where you are storing them. Avoid storing them where the sun can hit them through a window or where the air from an AC vent hits them.

The problem with warm temperatures is that the warmer it is the more the embryo will develop. In cooler temps that's not a problem, the development rate is so slow. But somewhere in the lower to mid 80's, the rate that it develops becomes a problem. The embryo can't develop enough to hatch at that temperature and may develop to a point and die, or it may develop enough and live so you have some eggs hatching really early. Hatching really early may create some problems but those are usually manageable, it's the dying that you really want to avoid.

I regularly store my hatching eggs at room temperature for a week without any drop off in hatchability. My last hatch was 17 chicks out of 19 eggs set, I'll take that any day. In the summer the AC is set on 78 and the humidity can be pretty low 9n the house. I might be able to go longer but I just don't.

If you can keep the temperature to 80 you'd probably be OK for a week. 85 would really be pushing it.

 

[cracker53]

Thanks for the info. I will move them into the house, 75 degrees and start elevating one end of the egg carton and rotate twice a day. Will start the incubator in a couple of days and place eggs on day six. Will let you know results.