Fertile Egg Facts Ebay Buyers & Sellers Please Read.

[bex46]

Hi all.
There are posts on here of good and bad sellers (im not on either list,lol) I understand that if a seller has been rude or packaged your eggs badly then that should result in Negative feedback or being put in the Bad Post List, however if your eggs turn out to be infertile or fertile, but fail to hatch, there are a number of factors why this could be that are out of the sellers control, it seems some people dont understand this.
There are 5 basic reasons why your eggs won't hatch. Infertility, Temperature, Rough Handling, Storage, Incubation.
Firstly, you cannot tell whether an egg is fertile or not unless you open it, which you obviously cant do if your planning on putting it in the incubator.
Temperature: An egg that is kept too warm will start to grow very slowly, this will weaken the embrio inside. An egg that is kept too cold for a long period will kill the embrio,ie the fridge. The coldest part of your house is good. A stored egg does not need oxygen, so a cool place with no drafts is perfect. Air movement around the egg increases evaporation so storing it for long periods in a cold drafty garage/shed is no good.
Any rough handling of the egg can damage it. Hairline cracks may not be obvious but candling them will help you seek out any before you incubate. Invisable damage inside the egg can be caused by shaking or rough vibration which weakens the delicate structure inside. Eggs that are packed in a poly box that is too tight may get 'jard' and an egg that is packed to loosly will rattle around. If you are recieving your eggs in the post it is recomended to allow your eggs to rest for at least 12 hours, this is fine as long as you let them heat up gently to room temperature and store them in the correct position and assuming they are fresh,as 1 extra day to a fairly old fertile egg maybe all it needs for it not to hatch.
You should put your eggs in a cold incubator and let your eggs warm up with it, sudden change will be quite a shock especially if it has been stored for any length of time in cold conditions.
If you are storing your eggs for more than a day or 2 you must turn/tilt them. Tilting them from side to side, morning and night is best. Turning them upside down is no good, the structure of the egg is very delicate inside, all you want to do is keep the yolk moving. You will notice if you have an automatic incubator it will turn or tilt your eggs one way, then the other. Surrounding the yolk is a thin film which has ligaments either end which are spring like coils, when the egg is turned the coil is wound up. Turning the egg the same way each time will wind up these ligaments and can cause the death of an embrio at any stage of incubation.
Hatching an egg is not as simple as most people think,on the other hand its not particularly difficult as long as you stick to afew basic rules.
I hope this info has been informative to some people. Thanks for reading! x

 

[Marigold]

Thanks for that, Bex, a very useful post. I've made it a sticky for reference.
One query - I was interested that you recommended adding the eggs to a cold incubator and letting them warm up more slowly. i can see the sense in this, and it must mimic what would happen when a broody settled down on a cold clutch she had been collecting, but have read advice in several places to get the incubator up to temperature to test its stability a day or so beforehand. Then, when happy with the temperature, add the eggs, and expect the temperature to drop as they warm, before stabilising again within 24 hours.
If you use the slow-warm-up method, does this have any effect on the length of time to hatching? And since an incubator isn't guaranteed to hold an even temperature, unlike a hen, how important is it to test it first, especially if it's a new one to you? Would you test and then let it cool down again before adding the eggs?

 

[bex46]

Hi, yes, i always test my incubator for 2 days if it hasnt been used for the season. Then i turn it off and on again when my eggs go in. There is no delay in hatch time, as long as your egg is at room temperature when you put it in, it wont take long to heat up to its correct temperature with the incubator. I undersatnd people use different methods, this is just what im happy doing and have done so for 6 years or more.

 

[Shazzybird]

Very good post bex's

 

[chrismahon]

Good post Bex. Not sure about putting the eggs into a cold incubator as we run ours for 48 hours first to make sure it has stabilised. Our eggs are brought to room temperature overnight, washed with egg sanitant and then put in. Our hatch rate was very high (80 -90%) once we had sorted the Suro insulation problems with bubble wrap. But I must add they are our eggs stored as suggested above and discarded after 9 days.