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This may seem a daft question but...

A broody chicken can hatch say 12 eggs. Now, given that a chicken lays 1 egg per day she must be waiting for 12 days before beginning incubating.
a) How long can I keep eggs before incubating?
b) Should the collected eggs be kept warm before incubating or at what temperature?

yes, you can keep the eggs - store them broad-end-upwards in a large egg box, at cool room temperature.

If its too warm, the eggs may start developing (thats why mrs hen will lay & leave the eggs til she has her clutch of 12 or whatever, then sit on them)

you can keep them a week or two .. if the conditions are right.

Are you collecting from just one hen?
How big is your incubator? I'd personally not collect for more than a week/10 days, just to be sure they are fresh
Its only a three week til you can set the next lot!!

you can even add them in for a couple of days, if you mark them so you know which ones you'll be waiting for.

And don't forget to run your incubator for 24 hours before you set the eggs in

little blue duck wrote: Are you collecting from just one hen?
How big is your incubator? I'd personally not collect for more than a week/10 days, just to be sure they are fresh
Its only a three week til you can set the next lot!!

you can even add them in for a couple of days, if you mark them so you know which ones you'll be waiting for.

And don't forget to run your incubator for 24 hours before you set the eggs in

No, I have 5 hens and 1 cockerel but the laying has reduced to 2 or 3 eggs per day and the Memsahib does want her eggs for breakfast. So it will be a small hatch.
The incubator can take up to 24 hens eggs

Thanks for the advice fingers crossed will post on here they will be a cross between Lavender Auracana and (RIR x White Sussex) could be interesting

I may be wrong, but i'm sure when we incubatd eggs last year, the instructions with the incubator said to turn the eggs every day whilst holding them until tou hav the required amount. I can't find the instructions, but I believe the reasoning behind it was to prevent the yolk from sticking to the shell. (?)

Sorry to be so vague, will let you know if I find out for sure.

Lisa.

Thanks Lisa makes sense

It depends how long you are collecting them for;
if you get eggs through the post, its always recommened to let them "settle" for 24 hours or so, broad end up.

To be honest I've not had much luck with eggs through the post 1 out of 24 and that was a cock. Using my own or rather my hens this time.

Dr.Syn wrote:To be honest I've not had much luck with eggs through the post 1 out of 24 and that was a cock. Using my own or rather my hens this time.

When we last incubated eggs (years ago) we had 24 and the only one to hatch was a cock too. We also turned the eggs over to stop the yolks sticking to the shell, but I don't remember if it was once or twice a day.