will fertile eggs from fridge hatch?

[Spring Chook]

I bought some beautiful BCMs and Olive eggers from OntheSpot 10 days ago, they had been with a rooster so will be laying fertile eggs for 3 weeks or so. By coincidence, my Mille Fleur Bantam became broody a few days ago, so I retrieved 3 eggs laid by the BCMs that had been in the fridge and along with 2 laid that day, placed them under my Broody Bantam. I wonder if anyone else has successfully hatched eggs that had been in the fridge. I reckon the BCM eggs had been in the fridge no longer than 4 days. I also wonder whether the eggs that hadnt been in the fridge will hatch at different times. I dont have an incubator so am reliant on the bantam to do all the hard work

any thoughts?


Sophie

 

[Mahonri]

I've done it, but they eggs had only been in there for no more than 3 days.

 

[Spring Chook]

and ..... I've only got 5 eggs under my bantam, what do you think might be the 'conversion' rate

 

[peachlover]

I have done this experiment. I set a dozen eggs that were in the refrigerator for eight days and nine hatched. Go for it.

 

[paddock36]

A friend of mine hatched some refridgerated duck eggs in my homemade incubator and 5 out of 8 hatched.

 

[Spring Chook]

wow, the conversion rate for fridge fertile eggs sounds very promising! ANother question, I loath to disturb my bantam too much, she's rather nervy. Do I have to candle them? cant I just wait 21 days and see what happens.? what are the benefits of candling? Maybe I should post another thread for that question!

S
www.beloveforall.com

 

[kimb]

Quote:
you don't have to candle... BUT ... i would have a "candle station" available (even if it's mobile

) incase you catch a moment when she goes out for a stretch and a snack to be able to quickly check and see if anyone is developing

... but that's my impatience and nosiness coming out !

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Some years ago my step-dad asked if he could have some eggs to hatch so I just gave him a dozen of our sale eggs out of the fridge. They'd been in there three or four days and had been washed. It was a three hour ride back to his place and he put them in the most disreputable looking old foam incubator I'd ever seen. He hatched ten out of twelve.

I only have five turkey hens so it took a little while to collect enough eggs to hatch. I washed and refrigerated them every day. Our oldest eggs were ten days in the fridge and the rest progressively shorter from there down to laid that day. We set thirty five, had one clear, thirty four into the hatching tray on day twenty five, succesfully hatched thirty one.

It's better to keep them at a slightly warmer temperature and at a higher humidty than what refrigerators are usually set for, but if you don't have any place better you can certainly get by with refrigerating your eggs for a time.

 

[_Randall_]

Good thread!! So, would it be safe to say that eggs would be better off in a refrigerator that's say 40 degrees, rather than a place with decent humidity and about 60 degrees ...... or closer to 65 degrees?

 

[A.T. Hagan]

I don't know.

The ideal as I recall is in the 45-55 degree range with 60%+ humidity. You could probably look that up fairly easily.

So as the temperature climbs above that the desirability would fall.

The only time my house is below 65 degrees inside is during a winter cold snap so into the fridge my eggs go. Right now my inside house temp is in the 80-82 range. Too high to maintain good hatchability for eggs waiting to go into the box.