Newbie to Hatching- How to store eggs?

[6DollinsFarm]

Can someone please tell me the steps to take with the eggs I have prior to putting them in the incubator? I only get 6 eggs a day and would like to have at least 36-40 to try hatching. Do I store them in the garage? Do I wash them off? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[greenchickenman]

I'm new at this too, one lesson I learned is if your going to put eggs in your bator in a span of a few days, MAKE SURE YOU DATE WHAT DAY YOU PUT EACH IN?

 

[gabrielle1976]

You can collect eggs up to 10 days , but it would be better to collect them less then 7 just for the absalute best viablity. collect them each day and with a pencil put the day collected on the eggs and set them in an egg carton Fat end up and store them somewhere that it is more then 40 f and less then 65 f with 55 ish being the best temp. You dont want them to warm up and you dont want them to freeze. If you can put them in a carton then put a block or a book under one end of the carton and switch sides 2 to 3 times a day till you put them into the incubator , When you have gatherd enough eggs that you want to set. Write the date the eggs were set on each egg in pencil. If you have turner set them in there fat end up if not put an X on one side and a O on the other side and lay them in the incubator on there sides ether the X or the O up and then turn them 3 times a day. Did I miss anything

 

[6DollinsFarm]

Thank you!!!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Collection & Storage of Eggs
Choose eggs that are of good size, not abnormally big or small. Do NOT set dirty, cracked, or porous eggs. Try not to wash eggs as you will disrupt the protective barrier. If you must set a dirty egg try gently dusting it off with a dry towel. Place the eggs upright in an egg carton with the FAT, air cell end of the egg UP! Allow eggs to sit in a moderately cool, somewhat humid place for storage. Basements are great. Moderately cool means 55-65 degrees. Rotate your eggs a 3 times a day to keep the embryo from sticking. An easy way to turn all of the eggs at once is to place a thick book under one end of the carton, and later remove the book and put it under the other end of the carton, 3 times a day. Before adding eggs to the incubator always WARM eggs UP slowly to room temperature. IF THE EGGS ARE COLD Condensation can cause bacterial growth on the eggs! You can collect eggs up until 10 days or so, but after the 7th day lower hatch rates may result.


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https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101

 

[6DollinsFarm]

Thank you for the information. I can't wait to get started.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Best wishes!!
If you need those incubating articles they are always in my signature! KIT!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

When are you setting eggs??

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I tilt the eggs the same way in an egg carton twice a day while stored and continue that method as they incubate first 18 days. For me it can take up to 2 weeks or a bit longer to get all the eggs I want to incubate. Storing them on a counter in my 65F dinning room, tilting (turning) twice a day and then using egg carton to turn twice a day for incubation we had a 85% hatch rate. So don't be too afraid if you want to collect eggs longer than 10 days or only turn every 12 hours.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You are getting pretty good information. I’ll offer this site. It has good information on storing eggs and good information about incubation in general. I find it a good refresher.

Texas A&M Incubation site

http://posc.tamu.edu/files/2012/08/b60921.pdf

One thing I think it is important to realize. These are guidelines, not absolute laws of nature. If you follow all these guidelines perfectly you are still not guaranteed perfect success. If you violate a few you are not guaranteed absolute total failure. The guidelines are intended to improve your odds of success. Just follow them as closely as you reasonable can.

An example. They give a temperature range to store eggs. This is the perfect range but many of us don’t have anywhere in that range to store them and we still normally do pretty well as long as we don’t go to extremes. Just do the best you reasonably can and you will probably do OK.