Incubating Washed & Refrigerated Eggs

[FoodFreedomNow]

I've traditionally only incubated unwashed eggs (poultry and waterfowl), and wouldn't have even considered trying to incubate refrigerated eggs...until I got my hands on some I really liked and after I read a number of BYC threads that recounted successful hatches, including with refrigerated eggs.

I stuffed my poor Brinsea with 25 eggs, knowing some would likely be pulled at first candling (and the brown eggs are huge). I marked those I knew were refrigerated (for a short time, I believe) and all were washed.



First candling will be in a couple of days...hoping at least half survive that milestone. Will post an update!

 

[omilona]

Well, I wish I had washed mine. I traditionally set eggs in the brinsea to hatch on/around Easter Sunday. This year it was silkie show girls from 2 different ebay people. The first set arrived beautifully packaged but filthy. I wanted to wash them, but restrained myself. The second arrived immaculately clean. I set them all in the new out of the box brinsea incubator that I had to buy because my 2 year old one's fan decided to die after three hatches. Fast forward to 5 days in the bator. I go to candle them. One egg is solid dark like you would expect to see at lockdown, but no air cell. I had never seen anything like it before. DH and I go to lunch, to return to the most horrific stench. The dark mystery egg was rotten and exploded all over my new brinsea and the other eggs. I washed down the parts of the brinsea I could and wiped down the eggs. But in the last 3 hours I have had to remove 2 more that were beginning to ooze. This may well be a total loss.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Well, I wish I had washed mine. I traditionally set eggs in the brinsea to hatch on/around Easter Sunday. This year it was silkie show girls from 2 different ebay people. The first set arrived beautifully packaged but filthy. I wanted to wash them, but restrained myself. The second arrived immaculately clean. I set them all in the new out of the box brinsea incubator that I had to buy because my 2 year old one's fan decided to die after three hatches. Fast forward to 5 days in the bator. I go to candle them. One egg is solid dark like you would expect to see at lockdown, but no air cell. I had never seen anything like it before. DH and I go to lunch, to return to the most horrific stench. The dark mystery egg was rotten and exploded all over my new brinsea and the other eggs. I washed down the parts of the brinsea I could and wiped down the eggs. But in the last 3 hours I have had to remove 2 more that were beginning to ooze. This may well be a total loss.

That is awful!! Not only a bummer that there was at least one bad egg, but the mess in that new incubator..!

I was very surprised by how many posters indicated that they wash their hatching eggs...and even more by how many had hatched refrigerated eggs (even ones that had been refrigerated for a while).

Best wishes for the remainder of your incubation experience to be better!

 

[Kessel23]

I have hatched refrigerated washed eggs that were a few weeks old before. But yeah, be careful of any rotten eggs, I did not have problems with them when I hatched the washed eggs but I have had similar things happen when incubating Muscovy eggs.

 

[omilona]

Tomorrow I will cull the lot if it continues and wash out the new brinsea. I can still put the f3 generation olive eggers in tomorrow for the holiday hatch. Everyone loves it. My dear daughter was really jonesing for a fluffy.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

First candling update: of the 25 originally set, only 1 was a clear. These refrigerated and washed eggs (local, not shipped) are seemingly as fertile and suitable for incubation as non-refrigerated and unwashed. Very surprising!

I honestly wasn't expecting nearly all to be developing...and with goose eggs and more Silverudd's Blue (Isbar) on the way, all 4 incubators are going to be busy.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Tomorrow I will cull the lot if it continues and wash out the new brinsea. I can still put the f3 generation olive eggers in tomorrow for the holiday hatch. Everyone loves it. My dear daughter was really jonesing for a fluffy.

I bet those F3 OEs will lay beautiful eggs.

 

[omilona]

I bet those F3 OEs will lay beautiful eggs.

And laid this morning, so should be good to go! Now I just need a mama to go broody sometime between now and Easter to foster them after the hatch. The F1 generation were 2 crosses: crested cream legbar x welsumer and blue ameraucana x birchen marans. f2 those were crossed. Every now and again I include a leghorn x OE cross egg into the DNA mix to increase the size and frequency of the lay.

DD was really looking forward to a fluffy. 2 1/2 years ago I shattered my leg requiring multiple surgeries, so I had to give away all my feathered friends, including her very favorite show girl, who used to sit and purr on her shoulder for an hour.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

And laid this morning, so should be good to go! Now I just need a mama to go broody sometime between now and Easter to foster them after the hatch. The F1 generation were 2 crosses: crested cream legbar x welsumer and blue ameraucana x birchen marans. f2 those were crossed. Every now and again I include a leghorn x OE cross egg into the DNA mix to increase the size and frequency of the lay.

DD was really looking forward to a fluffy. 2 1/2 years ago I shattered my leg requiring multiple surgeries, so I had to give away all my feathered friends, including her very favorite show girl, who used to sit and purr on her shoulder for an hour.

Aww, that must have been difficult for her...hope she can have another feathered friend soon. And hope you've recovered from that injury! Ouch.

Those crosses sound great! Am looking forward to breeding some OEs in the future, too. How does the Leghorn influence impact the egg color? I'm smitten with those shades of green/olive. Any pics you could share?

 

[omilona]

It's like the Whiting Super Blue/Sapphire Egg Layer cross. By hatching 2 -3 (sure to be only one girl) of the largest Leghorn hen egg x OE Roo increases the size of the smaller CCL and Ameraucana blue/green eggs, but tends to make them a lighter tinted green. But when you just add one or two to each hatch it does increase the size of the eggs and the leghorn is a laying machine. I like the freckles of the Welsumers.

Also, DD is 16, so she will live to handle the loss!