When you buy fertile eggs from a hatchery or anyone in general....

[foxypoproxy]

How far along will the eggs be when you buy them from like a hatchery?
Do they sell them as soon as they are layed or do they incubate them for awhile for you before they are shipped?

I have no idea how the process works.
Next spring i want to get a few eggs and give them to my broody to hatch.
Do i need to let them sit after they have been shipped? Or can i just put them right under the hen when they are received?

Sorry if i'm asking alot of questions

 

[conny63malies]

they should be on day 0. mean the incubation process has not begun yet. if they were started , a developing embryo would die during shipping due to the lack of heat.
once the incubation starts you cant stop it and ship the eggs

 

[Arielle]

All questions are welcomed here.

Once an egg has been started , that is, purposely incubated, it cannot be stopped, or delayed as it will likely cause the death of the embryo. SO I feel pretty confident in saying that the reputable hatcheries will send eggs that are fresh or have been properly stored, but never started eggs. THe length of time stored before shipping is definitely a justified question. Eggs should be started by the 7-10th day after laying for best results (where 7 is better than 10).

 

[chickened]

Actually an egg begins to develope after it is made or as some say laid. The incubation is slowed by the ambient air temperature but never really quits developing until it diesin about 10 days or so maybe a few more.

To answer your question no there is no formal incubation done but they are usually stored at a low temp like 50 to 60 degrees while waiting to be incubated.

 

[foxypoproxy]

ok so i would still count to 22 days once they start incubating.
Ive heard you need to let eggs settle for 24 hours after they have been shipped, is that true?

 

[Arielle]

THis is to help the eggs normalize as much as it can after a wild and crazy ride thumping and bumping and being tossed by the package company.

FYI. I have not set shipped eggs but when preparing my own eggs for setting, I do have them be at room temp before setting them into the incubator. I don't go directly from cold storage to incubator; eggs can get fairly cold during shipping at this time of the year.

You can get loads of info by using the search feature.

Just to clarify. Egg actually start to develop a little bit during the 24 hrs between fertilization and laying. That's why you can see the bulls eye. At this point eggs held at optimal storage temps of 45-60 go into a stasis of no growth. If the temp is higher it starts growing; if the temp is over 75 degrees it grows faster and at its favorite temp 100 it grows very fast.

Eggs are very interesting!

GL

 

[chickened]

It doesn't hurt to let them settle, I have set them both ways and seen no noticable difference. If the airsac is detached then they most likely are duds. I go 3 weeks down on the calender from the set date count backwards from 21 to 18 for lockdown and wait. Temp and humidity and stability of both I think is more critical than settling. My hatch rates of my own eggs are usually 90+ %.
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[bustermommy]

How do you tell if the air sac is detached? What does it look like when candled? Anybody have pics?

 

[chickened]

When you roll the egg around in your hand and the airsac stays up or continues to migrate to the upmost part of the egg it is detached, it should not move at all regardless if the egg is upside down.
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[bustermommy]

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That makes sense. Thanks.