Storing fertilized eggs in the fridge - what's the optimal humidity?

[hysop]

Because your house does get too hot then refrigerator will be your best bet. Didn’t think about the hotter climates.

As far as incubation tips. The humidities are all different for people probably based on the incubator or location.

I have a Nurture Right 360 and I keep my humidity anywhere between 30 to 45% the first 18 days. Then from 60 to 75% for lockdown until they hatch. I’m in the southern states.

I candle at day 7, 10, and 18.
And I only remove eggs on day 10 if I know without a doubt that they’re dead.

On day 18 I will remove all others that are most likely dead as well. Hint: olive eggs are a gamble because I can never see inside! I’ve incubated olive eggs for the full 21 days just to crack them open and find out they were dead since day 7 thankfully they didn't explode.

 

[VlkStinu]

50-55 % humidity for the first 18 days then 65 % - for the chicken eggs. marans eggs need a bit less humidity.

Awesome, thank you!

 

[Ridgerunner]

. I was wondering what would you say is the optimal humidity in terms of % for storing the fertilized eggs?

You might find this article interesting. It as written by an expert that works with the commercial hatcheries so it may be a bit technical but he did try to write it on a level that might help us.

Texas A&M Incubation site

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/...e-Cartwright-Incubating-and-hatching-eggs.pdf

He discusses temperatures and humidities, as well as storage times. The closer you are to the "ideal" conditions the longer the eggs remain viable. It is not a case where every egg is fully viable until a certain temperature, humidity, and/or time is reached and then every egg magically switches off. Some eggs are a lot tougher than others and can go a lot longer. The further the eggs are from the ideal conditions and the longer they are stored the more likely they are to be not viable. It is a gradual thing.

I've read elsewhere the ideal temperature is 55 F (13 C). This guy says between 55 F and 65 F (18 C). This does not mean that the egg will not hatch if you get outside of that range, it means the longer the egg stays outside of that range the less likely it is to hatch. The closer you can come to the ideal conditions the longer it may remain viable. To me it also shows that even the experts can have different opinions on the details.

Not all refrigerators are kept at exactly the same temperatures. You can also have warmer and colder spots in the refrigerator. Most of us have our refrigerators set too cold to be a really good spot but for some it may be the best you can do.

He wants it really humid where you store them. The eggs are losing moisture as they are stored, the drier the conditions where they are stored and the longer they are stored the more moisture they lose. Relative humidity changes as temperature changes which makes it harder to talk about "ideal" humidity unless you talk about wet and dry bulb. You don't want condensation on the eggs but you want the humidity up there for "ideal" conditions.

I don't have any place that has ideal conditions to store eggs so I do the best I can. For me that is on the countertop which is pretty low humidity due to heating or cooling the house. The temperature is often above his upper limit of 72 F (22 C). It's the best I can do and if I don't store them for more than a week I get pretty good hatches.

I have two laying hens whose eggs I want to incubate, so to gather a larger amount of eggs, I will have to wait at least a week before I will collect enough to starting incubating.

The longer you store the eggs the less likely they are to hatch. That does not mean they absolutely won't hatch, they are just less likely to. I don't know how many eggs you want to hatch or how big your incubator is but I'd be tempted to collect eggs for a bit longer than you may be thinking as long as they are still laying well. Maybe for a week and a half or even two weeks. The younger eggs are just as likely to hatch as the others would have been if you start incubating them earlier, and you may get a pleasant surprise with a few of the older eggs.

He also talks about incubation in that article.

 

[VlkStinu]

Because your house does get too hot then refrigerator will be your best bet. Didn’t think about the hotter climates.

As far as incubation tips. The humidities are all different for people probably based on the incubator or location.

I have a Nurture Right 360 and I keep my humidity anywhere between 30 to 45% the first 18 days. Then from 60 to 75% for lockdown until they hatch. I’m in the southern states.

I candle at day 7, 10, and 18.
And I only remove eggs on day 10 if I know without a doubt that they’re dead.

On day 18 I will remove all others that are most likely dead as well. Hint: olive eggs are a gamble because I can never see inside! I’ve incubated olive eggs for the full 21 days just to crack them open and find out they were dead since day 7 thankfully they didn't explode.

Thank you, I know the opinions are mixed, but I think the fridge will also be the best bet, since it provides stable humidity and temperature, unlike the house. I think it would just get too warm, especially in the upcoming weeks. If I would have a cellar then that would be great, but I don't have that, unfortunately.

I have an incubator with in-built lights in the turner for candling, so I don't have to handle the eggs at all or open the incubator unless I need to refill the water, which is great.

Thank you for all the tips!

 

[VlkStinu]

You might find this article interesting. It as written by an expert that works with the commercial hatcheries so it may be a bit technical but he did try to write it on a level that might help us.

Texas A&M Incubation site

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/...e-Cartwright-Incubating-and-hatching-eggs.pdf

He discusses temperatures and humidities, as well as storage times. The closer you are to the "ideal" conditions the longer the eggs remain viable. It is not a case where every egg is fully viable until a certain temperature, humidity, and/or time is reached and then every egg magically switches off. Some eggs are a lot tougher than others and can go a lot longer. The further the eggs are from the ideal conditions and the longer they are stored the more likely they are to be not viable. It is a gradual thing.

I've read elsewhere the ideal temperature is 55 F (13 C). This guy says between 55 F and 65 F (18 C). This does not mean that the egg will not hatch if you get outside of that range, it means the longer the egg stays outside of that range the less likely it is to hatch. The closer you can come to the ideal conditions the longer it may remain viable. To me it also shows that even the experts can have different opinions on the details.

Not all refrigerators are kept at exactly the same temperatures. You can also have warmer and colder spots in the refrigerator. Most of us have our refrigerators set too cold to be a really good spot but for some it may be the best you can do.

He wants it really humid where you store them. The eggs are losing moisture as they are stored, the drier the conditions where they are stored and the longer they are stored the more moisture they lose. Relative humidity changes as temperature changes which makes it harder to talk about "ideal" humidity unless you talk about wet and dry bulb. You don't want condensation on the eggs but you want the humidity up there for "ideal" conditions.

I don't have any place that has ideal conditions to store eggs so I do the best I can. For me that is on the countertop which is pretty low humidity due to heating or cooling the house. The temperature is often above his upper limit of 72 F (22 C). It's the best I can do and if I don't store them for more than a week I get pretty good hatches.


The longer you store the eggs the less likely they are to hatch. That does not mean they absolutely won't hatch, they are just less likely to. I don't know how many eggs you want to hatch or how big your incubator is but I'd be tempted to collect eggs for a bit longer than you may be thinking as long as they are still laying well. Maybe for a week and a half or even two weeks. The younger eggs are just as likely to hatch as the others would have been if you start incubating them earlier, and you may get a pleasant surprise with a few of the older eggs.

He also talks about incubation in that article.

Thank you very much, this is very helpful! It made me question my decision to put the eggs in the fridge... Maybe I should try and find a spot in the house where I can achieve that 18°C mark. Maybe on the ground by the main door in the entrance hall, where it will probably be the coldest. I've noticed the humidity recommended there is 75% for storing, that is really high! I've seen opinions and articles that say the humidity should not be too dry but not too humid. But this would suggest putting the eggs in a container with some wet blanket or bowl with water to achieve this as 75% is really a lot.

Just a question, what exactly is wet/dry bulb?

 

[Ridgerunner]

It's a method scientists use to measure moisture content of the air. Most scientific articles I see talk about wet bulb instead of relative humidity. I'll just copy something about it.

Wet bulb temperature is the lowest temperature to which air can be cooled by the evaporation of water into the air at a constant pressure. It is therefore measured by wrapping a wet wick around the bulb of a thermometer and the measured temperature corresponds to the wet bulb temperature. The dry bulb temperature is the ambient temperature.

 

[VlkStinu]

It's a method scientists use to measure moisture content of the air. Most scientific articles I see talk about wet bulb instead of relative humidity. I'll just copy something about it.

Wet bulb temperature is the lowest temperature to which air can be cooled by the evaporation of water into the air at a constant pressure. It is therefore measured by wrapping a wet wick around the bulb of a thermometer and the measured temperature corresponds to the wet bulb temperature. The dry bulb temperature is the ambient temperature.

So the relevant levels to us mentioned in the article are the dry bulb ones? Do I get that right?

 

[chickengr]

Thank you, I know the opinions are mixed, but I think the fridge will also be the best bet, since it provides stable humidity and temperature, unlike the house. I think it would just get too warm, especially in the upcoming weeks. If I would have a cellar then that would be great, but I don't have that, unfortunately.

I have an incubator with in-built lights in the turner for candling, so I don't have to handle the eggs at all or open the incubator unless I need to refill the water, which is great.

Thank you for all the tips!

if you don't open incubator there might be not enough oxygen. broody hens get up every day so we should mimic that as well.

 

[WILIFORD]

Just a thought, but would keeping them in an ice chest, not with ice, just an empty ice chest, solve the problem. I'm thinking that might keep the temperature down in the optimal area. I'm afraid the refrigerator, even at the warmest setting is going to be damaging to your eggs. Another tip I use for turning my eggs while saving them before incubation, I stick a book, or a board under one end of the cartons I'm collecting them in. Every time I walk by them, I just move the board, or book to the opposite end of the cartons.

 

[chickengr]

Just a thought, but would keeping them in an ice chest, not with ice, just an empty ice chest, solve the problem. I'm thinking that might keep the temperature down in the optimal area. I'm afraid the refrigerator, even at the warmest setting is going to be damaging to your eggs. Another tip I use for turning my eggs while saving them before incubation, I stick a book, or a board under one end of the cartons I'm collecting them in. Every time I walk by them, I just move the board, or book to the opposite end of the cartons.

automatic turner?