Incubating cold eggs?!

[belindakerr91]

Hi guys!
so last week we had a horrible fox attack that took 4 of 5 of our ducks.
We are left with one very sore and depressed duck, along with about 20 fertile eggs that we have been gathering over the past 10 days.
I have heard that as soon as an egg gets cold, the embryo will die.
Is this true?! do I have any hope of hatching our babies eggs??

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

What are you considering to be cold? Lots of people, myself included, have hatched eggs that have been stored in the refrigerator. I would totally go for it as long as they haven't been frozen!
But decide quickly, the fresher your eggs, the better your chances! Most folks only collect for a week before setting them...

 

[belindakerr91]

That's great news!
they were not freezing, it proberly got as cold at 6degrees Celsius.
how long did you have the eggs in the fridge for?
we have eggs from 5 to 12 days old!

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Mostly just a couple of days, but I've taken eggs from the fridge that I had no idea how long they'd been in there.
There's also an entire thread dedicated to hatching Trader Joe's and other grocery store eggs

 

[belindakerr91]

oh wow!
yep, you've made my day! fingers crossed!

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

GOOD LUCK!

 

[darkbluespace]

I accidentally "refrigerated" a batch of hatching eggs because I was trying to keep them from getting too warm on a day long car trip. They were quite cold for 12 to 20 hours, but they all hatched just fine!

So sorry about your ducks!

 

[bobbi-j]

The only way you're going to know for sure is to give it a try!

Best case scenario, all or most of your eggs will hatch. Worst case... well, you know what that would be. So, fire up your incubator (or get ahold of one if you don't have one) and get those eggs going!

 

[belindakerr91]

Eggs are in and incubating!!
I'll update after a 6 day candle !

 

[belindakerr91]

Annnnnd we have developing eggs!!!!!!
so so so so excited!!!!