What is everyone using to store eggs before incubating

[Barbara9642]

I was researching and it says a special refrigerator. That you can't use your normal one and you can't keep them room temp. If I tell hubby I need an incubator AND an extra refrigerator he is gonna shoot me. Could I have some practical ideas???

 

[BellLisamo]

i use my fridge. i can still have great hatch rates. i can hatch month old duck eggs out after storing them in there... lol

 

[schoebel_taylor]

I just store mine upside down in my basement. It works pretty good.

 

[Barbara9642]

We have no basements in NC, water table too high. I miss my basement. Can't make sauerkraut either, too hot and humid, even with the AC!

 

[gocrow77]

Well, it really depends on how long you need to store them before incubating. If you are recieving shipped eggs and are going to set them pretty much right away, I think you would be ok placing them in a carton ( marked hatching eggs so noone mistakes them for eating and puts them in the fridge ) for up to a few days. In fact most people so this with shipped eggs for about 24 hours anyway to get them BACK up to room temp. If you plan on storing for longer I would do some brainstorming for a place that stays right around 50 -60 degrees. Our wellhouse would work well since it is partially dug into the side of a hill and partially underground and it is secure with a door and whatnot - nothing is getting in there to eat any eggs if I put them there. Do you have a cellar or anything similar? How cold does your crisper or "warmer" part of your fridge get? I got some eggs a while back from a local farmers market and had them in my fridge for 2+ weeks and set them and they developed fine - have not reached hatch day yet but I'm confident they will be fine. I would not suggest trying this with expensive shipped or project eggs - too many things could go wrong. Hopefully someone else will have some suggestions. That's all I can think of off of the top of my head at the moment. Good luck!

 

[TexasVet]

I really don't understand how this "refrigerate the eggs" thing started, because it makes no sense. A hen lays one egg a day until she gets a clutch of 8 to 10. So the eggs sit in whatever temp the outdoors is until she's ready to start setting. Hens certainly don't have refrigerators or only set in the fall! Maybe hatcheries started it because it takes so long to collect the thousand or so eggs they hatch at a time.

I collect mine, put them in an egg carton, and leave them on the kitchen counter. The carton isn't really necessary, it just makes it easier to turn the eggs a couple of times a day... just flip the carton over. You've got at least 10 days to collect enough eggs. They can sit longer than that, but the hatch rate declines as they age.

I've been treating my hatching eggs like this for years, and have great hatches.

Kathy, Bellville TX
www.CountryChickens.com

 

[ColbyNTX]

I 2nd KHayward but if you just want a fridge that has a digital thermostat and will hold a 55 deg, get a wine fridge. You can get one for $100 bucks or so.

 

[Mary Of Exeter]

Quote:
I do the same!

 

[Ridgerunner]

This site talks a whole lot about storing and turning eggs. I'm recommending it to you as much for the turning as the temperatures, but it discusses both.

http://gallus.tamu.edu/Extension publications/b6092.pdf

Most people do great storing at room temperature. I agree with the others about storing them in a cooler part of your house, but people were storing eggs for incubation for centuries before refrigeration was popular.

Growing up, Mom would store the eggs for eating under the sink. When we needed eggs for a broody, I'd get about a dozen from the bucket, mark them, and put them under the broody. We usually had good hatches. We did not have air conditioning and it sometimes got warm in the house, especially in the kitchen when she was canning or making jelly.

If you don't yet have a broody but want to be ready in case one goes broody and you have a limited number of laying hens, you can set up a system where you put fresh eggs in every day and take the oldest eggs out for your personal use every day. You can mark the date on the eggs, have separate cartons for a daily rotation, or have two cartons lined up and put fresh eggs in on the right and take the old ones out from the left. Always have ten or twelve ready to go. Whatever works for you. The reason I'd do this is that a broody usually lays every day just before she goes broody, then quits laying. If I have a hen go broody, I want her to raise some of her own chicks, not as a reward but to keep the broody trait in my flock. You also don't have to turn them if you keep the eggs for less than a week. Simpler is always best.

 

[ma hen]

i store my eggs "chicken" up to 7 days in a egg carton down in my basement or in a cool room that does not get cooler than 55-60 degrees i put a M on one end and a N on the other morning & night just to be different lol some just put a X

ma hen