Will eggs left out on the counter in warm weather start developing?

[SueT]

These eggs are 3 and 4 days old, left on the counter, temp in kitchen is about 80º or more. The bullseye is very prominent, I have decided to make room in the fridge for subsequent eggs...or am I being overly concerned?

 

[Earthdale]

They can, but they don't usually, last summer during the heat wave all of mine started developing and I lost a good 8 dozen though.

 

[JubileeFarmer]

The eggs would need to be at or near 99.5 F to start developing. 80 F is not warm enough. By day 2 the blastoderm would be somewhat larger than shown in your pic and by day 3 developing eggs have visible blood vessels so yours have not started to develop.

(not my photos)

 

[Ridgerunner]

For eggs to hatch they need to be incubated in the range of 99 F. But development can take place below that temperature. The embryo in a fertile egg is alive and developing. If it ever totally stops developing it dies. How fast it develops depends on temperature. Below 80 F development is not going to be fast enough for you to ever notice. The warmer they get though the faster they develop. It's not that they will hatch, but they develop to a point they can't sustain it and die.

I think refrigerating them in your case is probably a good idea. They would still be safe to eat, but there is a YUK! Factor that many people, including me, might have problems with.