questions on saving eggs for incubator

[reggiejr]

HI i have a breeding pair and i want to incubate a few eggs.how long do they have to be separated from the flock for before i should start saving the eggs for the incubator?how many days could i accumulate eggs before incubating them?how do you usually handle this phase of preincubation.thanks in advance

 

[Countrywife]

Reggie- are you talking about seperating the hen and the rooster? I don't understand what you are seperating. I was told you could collect the eggs in a basket on the counter.

 

[reggiejr]

yes i was referring to separating the hen and rooster from the rest of the flock.and wanted to know how many days the eggs would keep.

 

[cluckinchicken]

If it's a specific pair you want to mate, I hope he thinks she is one of his women. Sometimes they won't do it with a gal that isn't 'theirs.'
You can try to separate them, observe behavior, see if he 'gets it' and 'gets it on' with them for a few days or so. Soon as you see the lovin' happening, get the next eggs. I will take them each into the incubator soon as it's laid, date and mark them with my customary 'sun' on one side, 'moon' on the other (and the proposed hatch date) with a sharpie marker (I don't wash the eggs). Sure, it makes for a few days of hatching but I suppose you could wait a few days with the eggs on the counter, like someone else suggested, at room temp. But if you're batoring them anyway, a few days of hatching isn't that big a deal.

 

[Pathfinders]

Conventional wisdom says that a hen must be removed from cock birds you don't want her to produce eggs from for at least three to four weeks.

That being said, if she is penned with a cock bird you DO want her to produce eggs from, chances are good that the new sperm from the chosen cock bird will trump older sperm from the non-chosen cock bird.

However, there are exceptions to every rule, and some hens can store viable sperm in their bodies for up to 40-odd days or so. So I usually wait at least a month.

Hatching eggs are best used within 7 days of being laid, after that fertility drops off considerably. I wrote an article about storing hatching eggs, you can see it here:

http://www.ehow.com/how_5430574_store-hatching-eggs.html

Best of luck to you!

 

[reggiejr]

thanks for the info everyone it was very helpful.