[HappyHippy]

Is there a 'right' way to do this ?

I have a friend who's going to incubate some eggs for me (she's very experienced and just across the valley  ) so she told me to collect 12, keep them cool but not frozen then give them to her.

But it got me thinking......
Is there a 'right' way to store them ? Wide end up ? Down ? Laying on their side ? Should I just put them in an egg box or pack them in a box with sawdust ?

Planning on keeping them in my bedroom (no heating and a wooden floor - so definitely cool, but no chance of frost)

Tips and advice gladly accepted, likewise, if I'm just totally over thinking the whole thing give me a heads up 
Thanks, Karen x

[darkbrowneggs]

I used to store mine on the quarry tiled floor in a frost free vegetable store.  Think of the conditions a hen would use to make a nest.  Cool shady on the earth not wet, but some moisture from the earth.


I think you could store on their sides - a hen certainly would.  I stored mine point side down in fibre egg trays which were raised on a brick on one side then twisted to other side next day.


You don't need to do this if storing for less than 7 days.  Having said all that,  eggs will hatch straight from the fridge.  I even hatched one that was frozen so badly I thought it had cracked. 

[HappyHippy]

Thanks Sue 

[Victorian Farmer]

I use a egg tray and put each week of eggs in the tray .When iv got 3 weeks eggs i incubate them .Temp to store eggs 50 c .

[HesterF]

I store them in the cellar - cool with high humidity. Mind you, it's flooded at the moment so hoping it'll go down before I want to start collecting. I turn them daily - side to side but you have to make sure you turn it over and then back rather than keep rotating. You can also turn end over end. Either method avoid tangling the cordy thing (can't remember the proper name although I should).

[Clansman]

Hi Karen,

Commercial guys keep them stored pointy end down in temperature controlled environment around 68°F

the embryos can start to develop above 75°F

They are normally just stored in plastic trays



You can store them on their side but its a good idea to turn them once a day just to stop and damage as Hester said.

Setting eggs between 1 and 7 days old will give the best results, the hatch ability starts to tail off after 7 days

[HappyHippy]

Thanks guys 

I have 3 eggs and have got them (pointy end down) in an egg tray.......just need to get another few now.

Clansman - I take it to wait for 12 would be pretty pointless then ? (Assuming the first 5 would be unviable) I'll maybe just take some from my silkies and go for a x breed (Cream legbar cockerel) 
Thanks again,
Karen x

[Clansman]

You'll be fine to wait till you have your 12, they will still hatch even when weeks old.

The hatch ability/fertility rate drops a small percentage per day of age, not worth bothering about when you have a dozen eggs but in the commercial world where they are dealing with hundreds of thousands at a time then even 1 percent is a big loss so its all very time critical

I knew we'd talked about this recently! 

Have a wee read here:

http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=40628.msg395641#msg395641


"Fertility rates actually improve once the eggs are two days old then gradually reduce each day from then on.

at the hatchery I worked in we hatched Cobb broilers and the fertility rate was reckoned to be reduced around 0.3% per day of age (above 2 days)

Once they reached 7 days the fertility rate dropped around 0.5% per day.

We very rarely set eggs much over 10 days old."

[chrismahon]

We've notice a drop in hatch rates after 7 days and at 12 days old got nothing to hatch. What we do is split the hatch HappyHippy. Put all the eggs we have into the incubator that are 7 days old. Candle at 6 days and remove the undeveloped if necessary to give more room for a second set. At 18 days the first batch is moved into a hatcher -another incubator set at the lower temperature and higher humidity and not turning the eggs. The two hatches can be integrated when the second batch is 7 days old and onto day and night, rather than 24 hour light. You can't integrate batches further apart than that because of fighting. When integrating the batches you absolutely MUST double the available space at the same time. We use a large electric hen set with a slope so it is warmer at the back than the front for the youngest. Within 6 weeks there is no noticeable difference in size.

[HesterF]

Interesting Chris - I was wondering whether it's possible to stagger hens and ducklings and your method might work. Put the duck eggs in first, wait 7 days, discard the infertile ones and then fill the gaps with chicken eggs. Mind you then I'd still need two different brooders for them so maybe that doesn't gain me a lot.

Also why do you have 24 hour lights to begin with? I hadn't even thought of that because I have the same electric hen so they've just had the same natural light (or inside lights when they're in the kitchen) we have. I just assumed that's what they'd have with a broody. What's the advantage of 24 hour light?

H

[Marches Farmer]

I store them in the cellar - cool with high humidity. Mind you, it's flooded at the moment so hoping it'll go down before I want to start collecting. I turn them daily - side to side but you have to make sure you turn it over and then back rather than keep rotating. You can also turn end over end. Either method avoid tangling the cordy thing (can't remember the proper name although I should).

The chalaza.

[chrismahon]

24 hour light means they can feed whenever they want HesterF. In  the first week they just fall asleep for a few moments and then start again. Their crops are not developed so they can't really store food for all night, they just get hungry. When we make the switchover to night and day they go hungry the first night. Next day they fill their little crops and keep them full and you can see that. Basically they grow much faster with this approach.


The chicks go into a room free from external heat influence, so no direct sunlight. This gives a consistent ambient temperature. We start with a red heat light for a week and then go to a white heat lamp then black heat (ceramic) light, or if we have the electric hen for a small batch we use an ordinary white bulb just for light and nothing at night.


Chicks hatched under a broody are noticeably less developed than those artificially hatched and reared as above. We introduced 10 week broody chicks to a batch of 8 week incubator chicks and they were the same size. We had behavioural problems as well though, because mummy had always stopped any need for fighting, so they were unable to defend themselves and we had to pull them out. They were bullied off the feeder and drinker and just hid in the coop.