How to avoid a fertilized egg from incubating/hatching

[dempseya]

Hi y'all! New chicken mama in search of advice!

Silly question but my eggs will end up being fertile because I have a rooster. I know it takes 21 days of incubation before hatching but I want to avoid any type of incubation/developing more at all. How do you MAKE SURE that the egg does not incubate at all? One day I may want to hatch but for normal day-to-day egg collections, I want to store them and eat them safely.

I know it is safe to eat fertilized eggs but I want to make sure I am eating them within a proper time frame to avoid any incubation. If I collect every 1-2 days, do I need to put right into the fridge or can I keep them on the counter?

Or if I am away and do not collect the eggs for a few days, will it already have started incubating even if a hen is not laying on it all the time?

Please leave any tips to avoid an egg from incubating and developing into a chick!

 

[sourland]

Collect daily, and there will be no incubation. Eggs are 'incubated' when a hen sets on them and warms them.

 

[dempseya]

Collect daily, and there will be no incubation. Eggs are 'incubated' when a hen sets on them and warms them.

That's what I thought but I wanted to make 100% sure! If the hen sits on it for a day while I'm at work, would that do anything? I'm more concerned about while it is still in the coop with them. Or would the hen really need to sit on it nonstop for multiple days?

 

[sourland]

Setting on it for a day is highly unlikely to start development.

 

[Acre4Me]

So, strictly speaking of ANY incubation and growth….a tiny bit occurs before the egg leaves the hen’s body. This is why a fertile egg has a faint bullseye in the yolk when you crack a fertile egg open to cook it.

But, from a practical perspective, a hen has to sit on it for at least a couple of days before you’d notice something different. So, some hens like to lay an egg and hang out in the nest boxes for an hour or so (not broody), so they are warming the egg, but that isn’t going to cause any perceptible changes at all. If you go away and the hens lay eggs, but don’t sit on them, you will still be fine!

 

[sdm111]

Keep them below 98 degrees

 

[Mrs. K]

You won't have any development at all if the temperature is below 100. Now we did have a week + of over 108, but I did not see any signs.

You will know when you have a broody hen. IF she has eggs under her for more than 24 hours, then a development begins, but it is still pretty microscopic.

An ordinary laying hen, trying to make up her mind and on the nest is not enough heat to start it.

Mrs K

 

[3KillerBs]

That's what I thought but I wanted to make 100% sure! If the hen sits on it for a day while I'm at work, would that do anything? I'm more concerned about while it is still in the coop with them. Or would the hen really need to sit on it nonstop for multiple days?

I've had a wave of broodies and occasionally seen an enlarged "Bullseye" when I cracked an egg after a time when I couldn't collect them personally and my kids/husband weren't willing to fight my biting Java for the eggs she was sitting on so that they got 2 days of sitting. But if you collect eggs daily there's no issue.