The "refrigerator egg" thread

[beverly evans]

So fascinating to hear that frig eggs can be hatched! I immediately rescued the ones I have been eating (no more eggs for me!) out of the frig and put them in the bottom of the frig with a wet paper towel and raised the temp. in the frig . I have thermometers in the fruit drawer. We'll see what happens. They have to wait til the 29th to go into an incubator. THX everyone! : D

 

[LTygress]

Here they are! Cute little fuzzy butts!

There were two leghorn/ameraucana mixes, three purebred ameraucana, and one ameraucana/plymouth rock mix! Also pictured are their brooder-mates, which include several bantam cochin (black), several bantam frizzle cochin (also black), and an older leghorn.

These photos were taken a couple of days after they hatched, while spending time outside in the grass. They have since been actually MOVED outdoors to their weathering pen (little dog pen situated in the carport with a heat lamp) to prepare them for the cooler outdoor weather as they grow their feathers in. I got pics from that today, but this one folder gave me almost 60 shots of the chicks. So I've got to down-size and crop the others before I can post them.

 

[packer fan]

Maybe you said but how long were the eggs in the fridge before you started to incubate them?

 

[LTygress]

Mine spent about two weeks in there. I thinkthe "oldest" one had been in the fridge for 16 days or so.

 

[mcanada1779]

i gotta know what happens, I am new to chickens and I gotta know if this is possible. PLEASE KEEP US UPDATED!!!

 

[jmandawn]

Beautiful chicks!!!

 

[janurism]

That is a fantastic hatch result! Now I know what to do with my eggs I had set aside in the fridge that don't get used right away.. would love to try a staggered experiment.. seeing just how long to push the refridgeration before incubation period.. Fascinating stuff really, if you think about it.. Chicken seeds great post!

 

[Joliet]

When you remove them from the fridge do you let them get to room temp before placing them in the incubator or do you just put them in cold. I am going to try my fridge eggs too but I would hate to put them in the incubator cold since it may temporarily lower my incubator temp and mess up the eggs already in there developing.

 

[Joliet]

Oh and also does it matter which position the eggs were stored in the fridge. Suppose they were stored large end down

 

[LTygress]

Joliet, mine went straight from the fridge into the bator. I figured when a hen goes broody during the winter, she sits right on the eggs too, no matter what temp they are. And I know from unfortunate experience (i.e. power loss) that eggs are just fine if they go down in temp for a short while. I had a batch of eggs hit 70 degrees for a full day, and still came out just fine. They did hatch late, but they still hatched!

As for the position, I wouldn't quite know if it matters or not. Ever since I began hatching eggs, I have a habit of putting ALL eggs into cartons with large end up - exactly how they would be in the incubator trays. So when I took them from the fridge, they had already been sitting the same way they would be while in incubation.