Refrigerated eggs question

[UThobbyfarmer]

I've got two eggs on Day 3 that were refrigerated for an unknown amount of time. Anywhere from 3-14 days. These are from my own chickens not store bought. I've never tried refrigerated eggs before. This was an impromptu hatch and I didn't have much to loose.

Here's my question. I did a quick candling today when adding in an egg turner. They are definitely developing. Does refrigeration affect their ability to start developing in the first place? Am I "in the clear" as far as then being inhibited by the fridge? Or are they more prone to DIS or something like that later in the hatch?

Thanks in advance for your replies and expertise.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Interesting question. Commercial chicken producers have spent a lot of money developing the "ideal" conditions for storing and hatching eggs. These are people that may hatch 1,000,000 chicks a week in a hatchery and they have several hatcheries. Just a small percent difference in hatch rate can become significant for them.

These are the ideal conditions we read about. The further you are from the ideal conditions and the longer you are there the more hatchability you lose. This does not mean that all of sudden you go from practically all will hatch to none will hatch. It is a gradual decline and these eggs can be remarkably tough. Plenty of refrigerated eggs have hatched. For people in really hot climates the refrigerator may be their best place to store them.

Since they have started to develop I would not worry about that part of it. As you said you did not have much to loose. The only part that would concern me is the length of time they were stored without turning, which you don't know. If the yolk sagged enough to come into contact with the inside of the porous egg shell it can become stuck. If that happens the egg is doomed,even if it does develop. You can maybe tell by candling if that is a problem. Usually it takes over a week for that to be a concern.

I tried an experiment one year by putting several eggs that had been on the kitchen counter at room temperature for over two weeks, like you nothing to lose. None even started to develop. You are way ahead of me on that. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

Interesting question. Commercial chicken producers have spent a lot of money developing the "ideal" conditions for storing and hatching eggs. These are people that may hatch 1,000,000 chicks a week in a hatchery and they have several hatcheries. Just a small percent difference in hatch rate can become significant for them.

These are the ideal conditions we read about. The further you are from the ideal conditions and the longer you are there the more hatchability you lose. This does not mean that all of sudden you go from practically all will hatch to none will hatch. It is a gradual decline and these eggs can be remarkably tough. Plenty of refrigerated eggs have hatched. For people in really hot climates the refrigerator may be their best place to store them.

Since they have started to develop I would not worry about that part of it. As you said you did not have much to loose. The only part that would concern me is the length of time they were stored without turning, which you don't know. If the yolk sagged enough to come into contact with the inside of the porous egg shell it can become stuck. If that happens the egg is doomed,even if it does develop. You can maybe tell by candling if that is a problem. Usually it takes over a week for that to be a concern.

I tried an experiment one year by putting several eggs that had been on the kitchen counter at room temperature for over two weeks, like you nothing to lose. None even started to develop. You are way ahead of me on that. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. That makes a lot of sense. I'll post an update for sure. Fingers crossed for these little guys

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Well, I'm definitely looking forward to updates on the Frigidaire babies!

 

[mabelphire]

I’ve hatched refrigerator eggs before. Only up to two weeks of refrigeration. I had a 50% hatch rate too