Storing eggs for hatching

[Judykaymayes]

How do you store eggs for hatching and and how long can they be stored?I am wanting to get an incubator.

 

[NatJ]

How do you stop eggs for hatching and and how long can they be stored?I am wanting to get an incubator.

Eggs can be stored for at least a week before you put them in an incubator. Storing them for longer will make them less likely to hatch. A few extra days of storage will usually mean that some develop chicks and some do not. Storing them for 2-3 weeks will usually mean that few or no chicks develop.

You can store them in an egg carton, or a basket, or anything else that will keep them from getting banged around. You can store them on their sides, or big-end up. Try not to store them with the small end up.

Room temperature is usually acceptable (around 65 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit), although about 50 degrees Fahrenheit is said to be better-- so if you have something like a cool basement, you might store them there.

Eggs stored in a refrigerator will sometimes hatch, but it is definitely colder than ideal. I don't recommend using a refrigerator unless your room temperature is quite hot.

Eggs that have been frozen will definitely not hatch.

Eggs are fairly tolerant of storage conditions-- in nature, a hen would lay one egg each day in a nest, and leave them alone in all kinds of weather, and they would be "stored" until she decided there were enough eggs and started to sit on them. The ones that developed and hatched were the ones that produced the next generation of chickens. So there was definitely some natural selection for eggs that store well, in a wide range of conditions, and then hatch when incubated (by the hen or an incubator.)