What's the odds of infertile eggs "exploding" in incubator?

[_Randall_]

I keep hearing about it, and I've got my first batch of quail eggs cooking. So, what's the odds of an infertile egg "exploding"? Or does it have to be an "infertile" egg?

 

[RedfogsFlock]

fertile, or unfertile it doesn't matter. Candle on day 13, to avoid that. Then you can remove any and all that are duds, and thus avoiding the "exploding". Everything I've read says on day 14 they will explode if not removed. Hope it helps!

 

[Akane]

If they are collected clean, stored properly, and not too old then not that high. Never had one get anywhere near that bad except some contaminated quail eggs. Some broke in shipping and got coated with goo and some were slightly dirty to start with so I had a few go rotten within the first week. Otherwise I've kept eggs around on my counter for months and never seen a rotten one either. Slightly questionable and would not eat but not any that smell or are going to explode any time soon. I feed out any that are dirty or have gotten wet immediately to the dogs though so I only have clean eggs around and I try to only set the cleanest of those in the incubator. If I have to wash it then it's dog food instead.

It is a good idea even with clean fresh eggs to candle at least once and check the bator for smells occasionally to make sure you don't have one going bad. If you set dirty, older, or especially cracked eggs then check much more often. Overall it's just a good idea to set the best eggs possible instead of risking them all.

 

[Tailfeathers]

I can only speak to chicken eggs. I candle my eggs no earlier than 14 days. I've had "questionable" - those that might be developing but probably not - in my incubator up to 23-24 days.

Last year I had some very special eggs sent to me that I really took a chance on. I had to toss a couple of them when I opened the package because they smelled so bad I thought they might explode in my hand. I put the remainder of them in the incubator. The next day I pulled 4 or 5 because they were "sweating" and forming little yellow-like beads on the outside of the shell. Over the next 2 days I had to do the same with others.

None of those eggs exploded in the incubator. Based on my experience, one would most likely either see or smell a problem before they had an egg explode on them.

God Bless,