Refrigerated fertile eggs???

[flash5153]

I did let them warm on the counter before I put them under the hen,,, Amazing ,,,,,,I just thought it made sense to do that. I only put 2 under her,,,after all they are duck eggs and kinda large for a chicken. If they don't hatch,,,no harm done and it gives a broody chicken something to do. lol
The answers on this give some hope to my experiment. BTW,,,this is the same broody chicken that hatched,, the female duck (last year) that laid these eggs I'm hatching now. lol Me and my GF just realized that.

Here is a picture of the female that just got killed. Pics are from last year.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

There is a running myth that putting them in the fridge kills them. Its as bad as the running myth that you should not wash hatching eggs... Both are spread by people that don't know or dont care to know the truth that is out there.

If you only need to store your eggs for less than 14 days then putting them in the fridge will hurt there hatch rates by a little. If you need to store them for over 14 days then putting them in the fridge will help your hatch rates by a lot. This has been tested over an over again. Just like the tests that have proven washing every egg gets you the best hatch rated.

 

[FrenchToast]

Quote:
That is interesting about getting a better hatch rate with washed eggs. Any info on "how" to wash the eggs???? Just water? Bit of bleach or Oxine? Just curious.....

 

[LadyBirdsPalace]

I gave 16 eggs to my neighbour 2 months ago to incubate with her kids:

-6 fresh from the chickens,
-10 refrigerated, washed and ready for breakfast and anywhere from about 2 - 10 days old.

***

11 babes arrived, 1 deformed (from a NON-refrigerated egg), and the other 10 perfectly healthy and 5 of them were the fresh ones and 5 were the refrigerated.

So all 6 of the fresh ones hatched and 1/2 of the refrigerated/washed ones did, so we thought it was a neat little experiment as our hatching knowledge was nil at this point.

(When I wash them for eating I normally let them sit in a dish with some water and just a dab/smidge/hardly of my dish-soap, then later when I remember to, I rinse them off and wipe anyway any unwanteds,

)

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

I wash mine in the sink full of very hot soapy water. I put them all under the water together an take them out one at a time wiping them with my hand under the running sink with more hot water. Starting with the cleanest an ending with dirtiest. Others have said they dip them in bleach water too... I have just started trying to add bleach to my water but wont know how it works for me for a while.

The main thing is for the water to be hot all the time.

 

[rancher hicks]

Flash you have to keep us posted on the outcome of your experiment. K?

Hope things hatch. BTW do you know what the duck did when he flew upside down? He quacked up.

Rancher

 

[wrestling_mom]

Quote:
Back in about 2003, my very first hatch came from a mix of 10 room temp eggs, and about 14 eggs that had been in fridge about 2 weeks. They hatched, and I stopped eating eggs, lol. They were very healthy until the hawk carted them off.

 

[snyd08]

yes they CAN hatch but IMHO you've lowered the success rate a great deal.

 

[Cadjien_De_Louisiane]

I would recomment keeping between 55-77 degrees. I leave mine on kitchen counter in an egg carton and flip the carton once a day at about the same time each day untill I collect enough to hatch, up to 7 days. I hear you can go longer.

 

[destin0709]

I have been looking up info about keeping and hatching eggs. All were yes and no. Glad to see results to both.
I am so glad to have found BYC! So much useful info on here! I can't wait to get my hova bator so I can start some eggs!