i received 12 beautiful eggs in the mail yesterday. i'm pretty sure (hopefully) that i'll receive over 2 more dozen eggs in the mail today......(a total from 2 different shippers). my question is.....i know you're suppose to let shipped eggs "rest" for 24 hours before incubating......could i set my eggs tonight or tomorrow morning? if i set them tonight, that would give my newest egg shipments only 8 hours of rest. if i set them tomorrow, that would give them 16 hours of rest. i just don't want my 1st shipment waiting around too long. or, is it ok for them to rest 2 days instead of one? i just don't want them to get old.
Actually, I have done both. Some have rested (only because I was waiting for more eggs the next day), and some got to room temperature and were put in the bator. I haven't really seen a difference in hatch rates.
It is better (IMO) to let them rest longer (2 days) rather than shorter ( 8 hours). Shipping does a number on hatching eggs. It is BEST if they are placed in the incubator within 1 week of laying. The hatching rate drops after the first week, but is still a good rate if set before 2 weeks passes. The shipping part of the transaction causes MORE problems than the actual age of the eggs.
