How long can you keep fertile eggs before incubation?
| Fri, Apr 22 2011 11:46am BST 1 |
Peasey
5 Posts
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Hi all
We've been hatching chicks since last year from our light sussex
pair, and have had a good hatching rate and they've all been
fertile without fail. The incubator we've got holds 7 eggs and is
great but we're looking at going a little bit more commercial as
we keep getting requests for hens. A friend has offered to lend
us her 20 egg incubator and we've bitten her arm off, but are now
wondering, as we have 1 cockerel and 1 unrelated hen, if after 20
days the first eggs will still be okay for incubation? If not
potentially we could buy an unrelated hen and then we'd have 2 to
breed our cockerel with.... Any help much appreciated. Thanks.
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| Fri, Apr 22 2011 04:54pm BST 2 |
Chuck
4 Posts
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You'll find advice varies from 10 days max to 16 days max. If you
set your sights at 14 days but wanted to stretch it to 16 there's
not much to lose except they might not hatch. I've set 14 day old
eggs many times with no problems.
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| Sun, Apr 24 2011 06:45pm BST 3 |
Peasey
5 Posts
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Brilliant, that's what I'd heard from a friend so a back up is
great. Another breeding hen it is!
Ta
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| Tue, Jan 31 2012 04:24pm GMT 4 |
Bev
10 Posts
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If you are storing the eggs for that amount of time make sure you
keep them turned - we place them in an egg tray and put something
under one side one day and then the next on the other side so that
they tilt about 30 degrees each way each day - it helps prevent
sticking to the shell. Bev
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