Storing eggs prior to incubating

[Porterfive]

Hi,
I am in the process of collecting eggs to putint he incubator. It should take me about a week to get enough.
In the past I just keep them laid out in tupperware ware and roll them a few times a day.
I was wondering if I could just plug up the turner from the incubator and set them all in there as I get them. That way they would be stored safely and be adequately turned too.
Does anyone know if this would be ok?
Thanks for your help. Jenny

 

[the1much]

i put mine in the fridge, set to the warmest temp, and have them leaning like this ( / ) and tilt the opposite way 5 or 6 times a day.
they say the temp should be between 55 and 65 for "keeping" so thats the only thing i have done.

 

[ArabiansR2Cool]

I think just putting them in the turner would be fine. Of course, as long as the incubator is off

 

[duck&chickencrazy]

why cant you just keep putting eggs into the incubator while it is on, i am just curious. would it matter if you just add eggs while you go

 

[dbcooper02]

It would be possible to hatch a few at a time if you had a second incubator to use as a hatcher and were very careful to keep track of which eggs were which. It is just way easier to set them in batches.
Eggs are typically incubated in batches or clutches so they all hatch at the same time. That way the chicks in the brooder would all be the same age, needing the same brooder temps, maturing at the same time etc. etc.
db

 

[Teach97]

I have done that...it works. I did it because I am a little on the lazy/forgetful side and would not turn them and that does do bad things to your hatch rate.

 

[Porterfive]

I like to wait until I have enough eggs to put them in all at the same time.
I would love to just add them as I get them but if they are spread out over a week it would make things difficult at the stage where the turner has to come out ready for hatching. That way you would have to know which are the eggs that still need to be turned and do that by hand. That just seems messy if not impossible. Not to mention having to keep opening the incubator to turn eggs while others are hatching.
Unfortuatley I don't have the luxury of two incubators, maybe one day lol
thank you. Jenny

 

[duck&chickencrazy]

Well i was wondering cause i have an automatic turner and i was thinking that if i took out two or three sections on the turner that i could put the eggs that will hatch (within the 3 day thing) on the side that has no sections and i was thinking that would work but i dont know. Any feedback

 

[Katy]

duck&chickencrazy :

Well i was wondering cause i have an automatic turner and i was thinking that if i took out two or three sections on the turner that i could put the eggs that will hatch (within the 3 day thing) on the side that has no sections and i was thinking that would work but i dont know. Any feedback

As the batches hatch they'll leave behind a mess which is a breeding ground for bacteria which can mess up your later hatching eggs.​

 

[Porterfive]

Hi Amy,
You have to take the whole turner out when you have three days left to hatch. This is not just to stop the eggs turning but to stop the new born chicks form getting hung up in the turner and being killed.
The new chicks stagger and flop around, a lot, when they hatch.
My daughters class at school last year had two incubators full of eggs and she was unfortante enough to see what happens to them when they get tangled up in that turner Not a pretty sight.
Hope that helps.
Jenny