Questions about eggs because Im out of it.

The length of time a fertile eggs (You have to have a rooster for a fertile egg) remains viable dpends on in which it is stored. For the best chances of hatchability, collect all of your eggs you will incubate and immediately store in a COOL temp, as they will keep longer that being stored in nest boxes.The correct storing temperature is 51-56 degrees F. This keeps the egg cells dormant, and basically freezes germination. So you can keep your egg up until you get your bator.

 

I only have the one hen that lays and we waited 7 days before we put them in an incubator in order to get 7 eggs. They are hatching now, so it should be fine until Saturday.

 

7 days or less would be best. 10 possibly but declining from there on out. Rotating it just like if it where in the incubator would help too.

 

Up to 14 days with little loss in hatchability. I have routinely held eggs as long as three weeks and still maintained high hatchability. Just look at how long it takes a hen to build a clutch of eggs prior to setting-- sometime far in excess of 3 weeks.