Storing eggs before incubation.

[BeccaGore]

We just got our coturnix quail, and they are 5 weeks old. We haven't gotten any eggs yet, but I wanted to ask. What is the best way to store multiple eggs before you incubate? I have a 48 egg auto turning incubator, and want to fill it as much as I could with eggs, rather than a handful at a time. They are on a meatbird feed of 22% protein (the highest I could find in local stores,) and they will be getting oyster shells as well once I can grind them a little finer, and have a 150w light for 14 hours a day. We have 20 females, and 4 males all in the same cage. (Very large cage.)

 

[dc3085]

They do best stored between 60-70* f and @ 40-50% humidity. Wine fridges work great because of the adjustable temp/humidity settings.

 

[BeccaGore]

Thank you very much! I'd rather wait a few days, and collect quite a few, and incubate rather than maybe 10 at a time. That way I up my hatch changes, and don't feel like I'm wasting power just a small amount. Since they are 6 weeks old today when do you think they will start laying? Again they are only on the meatbird feed of 22% protein, and a light on for 14 hours.

 

[Tony K T]

Don't forget to turn them while storing them also.I put my eggs in an automatic turner while storing them so I don't forget to turn them.
In N.H.,Tony.

 

[Chris102]

At 6wks, Your hens could start laying tomorrow...or it could be another few weeks. If you're not getting eggs by next month, try 15hrs of light and go from there. I don't like hatching only a handful of eggs, so I often store them until I have at least two dozen or so. I've always turned eggs I'm storing for incubation...sometimes missing a day or two... but I just read a LONG university study done on Coturnix and it said turning eggs prior to incubation was NOT necessary!? This was interesting to me...I'm curious to test it out one day. But For now, I'll keep turning.

Fertility drops at a rate of about 3 percent a day...so keep that in mind when deciding how long to store the eggs.

As for temperature, mine do very well sitting in the house (room temperature) until they go in the "magic box". Wine fridge temps are great too.

Years ago...I once hatched 10/12 bantam eggs that had been washed AND refrigerated for two weeks. I'm not sure how that worked!? I was QUITE shocked when I candled them...even more so when they hatched! I surely wouldn't recommend trying it...just found it interesting considering ALL the factors NOT in my favor haha.

 

[BeccaGore]

I wanted to test my incubator with the last 3 fertile eggs I had, haha. I wanted to get my handle on it NOW rather than collecting all 48 then not knowing how to run the dang thing, and lose a weeks worth of eggs. I'm having issues with the humidity. It rises, and falls rather quickly, and the it came no suggestion of water amount to keep it in the 40's. Right now it's sitting at 60% O.O, and that's with a teaspoon, or so of water in the bottom so I'm fiddling around with that. Temp stays at a nice 99.2 degrees F. The incubator is set in Celsius so it says 37.2, but again that 99.2 in F. Maybe dropping to 98 from time to time.