How do you keep eggs to incubate? Here in Texas it already gets up to 90 during the day...how do I keep 'em cool? Is the fridge too cool for them? Thanks for the help!

-- Jennifer (oortiz@tstar.net), May 15, 2001

Answers

Jennifer, We also live in Texas and I always keep my eggs for incubation in the kitchen. I put them in cartons and turn them twice a day for 1-2 weeks if neccesary. If you stop to think about it, the hen would only be putting 1 egg in her nest a day and probably wouldn't set until she had 10 or 12. Do not put the eggs in the refrigerator because you will find that the hatch rate gets really low.Hope this answers your question. By the way, where in Tx are you? We are in central part.

-- milkmaid (inkina@cctc.net), May 15, 2001.

My system, rather successful, has been to store them at "room temperature". However, here in Maine that means 50 to 70 degrees. I really believe they are a little more resilient than that, but a "cool, not cold, and warm, not hot" space should be fine. Also, I find that 2 weeks is about the maximum time you can keep them and expect any reasonable success rate. Good Luck!

-- Brad (homefixer@SacoRiver.net), May 15, 2001.

Thanks for the suggestions! For you Texans, we live in the Hill Country!

-- Jennifer (oortiz@tstar.net), May 15, 2001.

Jennifer, as a fellow Texan, I'm sharing the 90º temps with you. My hens do all the hatching here, but a friend has had great improvement in hatching since she's been storing the eggs in the fridge. She keeps them in there for up to 10 days before putting them in the incubator.

I experimented. I took some eggs out of my fridge, let them get to room temperature, then put them under a broody hen. They hatched!

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), May 16, 2001.

Temperatures below 40 degrees will kill the embyro, most frigs are colder than that, so......just keep 'em cool, like in the basement or cellar.

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), May 16, 2001.

No one in Texas has a basement or cellar!

-- Jennifer (oortiz@tstar.net), May 17, 2001.

== Temperatures below 40 degrees will kill the embyro, most frigs are colder than that, so......just keep 'em cool, like in the basement or cellar. ==

Heehee! Don't tell that to some of the chooks running around here! My hens built a clutch a couple of winters ago. Some of the nights were in the teens and twenties before a hen decided to set. All the eggs hatched.

My fridge is 40º and the eggs hatch. The eggs that hatched this week were only in the fridge for 4 days, but they can stay in there for up to 2 weeks. Maybe longer, but I do know 2 weeks work.

What's the difference between a basement and a cellar? As someone already stated, we don't have those in Texas.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), May 20, 2001.

It has been near 100 degrees here! When it isn't so hot I put my eggs in an egg carton, and sit them on a shelf, and turn the carton over at least once a day, to keep the yolk from sticking to the inside of the shell.

However, dehydrating is more of a problem here during the summer. I read somewhere a long time ago, that the refrigerator would keep them well if you put the eggs in the egg carton, then place the carton in a big brown paper sack, fold the sack around, and put it in the drawer in the bottom of the fridge (the crisper), still turning them over at least once a day When you take them out of the fridge water condenses on them as they warm, and you put them into the incubator that is already warmed to 101 degrees with the condensation on them. I have accomplished nearly 100% hatches this way.

-- Lela Picking (stllwtrs55@aol.com), May 24, 2001.

== I read somewhere a long time ago, that the refrigerator would keep them well if you put the eggs in the egg carton, then place the carton in a big brown paper sack, fold the sack around, and put it in the drawer in the bottom of the fridge (the crisper), still turning them over at least once a day ==

Lela, I've had 2 hens hatch fridge eggs. The eggs were in the fridge in open egg cartons on the 2nd shelf from the top. Some of the eggs had the point up. I didn't turn the eggs. They were in the fridge 4-5 days. (They were destined for eating!) All the eggs hatched. The temp in my fridge is 40º.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), May 25, 2001.