refridgerating eggs

[Guest Silverwings]

have found that by removing eggs at the point of lay ,and not allowing them to start the incubation process ,i can store them in a refridgerator up to six weeks ,and then foster them out as i require  them ? without detriment to the youngsters ,and increase the output from the main breeding pairs ! i know other  people adopt this method , any ideas has to how long eggs could be stored ?

[GREENGRASS]

I have never heard of this silverwings can you explain a little more on what temp they are stored at and are they stored in an ordinary fridge.

[Silverdale Lofts]

Ive kept eggs in egg boxes in cotton wool in the loft but never in the fridge

[Guest]

A cfew years ago I had some eggs on a shelf in the loft, a Junior flyer took one home and put it under a pair of pumpers and the egg hatched out no problems and a nice young bird

[Guest slugmonkey]

I have held them a few days but never refrigerated them?

[Chatrace]

above 40 ,but not over 92

[Guest Silverwings]

greengrass / silverdale .found out about this about ten years ago ,in conversation a top widowhood flyer ,topic was about getting the youngsters away from the cocks all at the same time ? said he fridged the eggs ? of the ones going down early ,so i  tried it out with the stock birds ,and done it as and when i needed to since ,had a dutch stock pigeon escape this year ( late summer ) had put his third eggs away about end of may removed them from the fridge (Not Freezer ) got two cracking y.bs fortunatley the cock returned , but it could have been the other way ? have seen pigeons breed at minus 10 the hen still stands over the first egg ? and still they hatch ? the incubation is just  seems suspended ...ray

[Guest Hjaltland]

I've had eggs lying around the shed for 3 - 4 weeks and used them as pot eggs, invariably they confound me and hatch.

 

Silverwings, do you turn them whilst in the fridge?

[Peckedhen]

Hmm, have often taken hens(poultry) eggs and hatched them a few weeks later in an incubator but understood that they are more viable if NOT kept in the fridge.

[GROVEHOMER]

THIS IS A HOT TOPIC,  EVERYONE HAS A "NO. 1 STOCK PAIR" . HAS ANYONE REFRIGERATED EGGS (2 TO 8 .C,)  AND HATCHED Y.B's  THAT HAVE GONE ON TO BE GOOD RACERS OR PRODUCE WINNING OFFSPRING,  AND HOW LONG HAVE  YOUR EGGS BEEN STORED FOR?                                                                                                                          I KNOW THE HEN (AND THE COCK , FOR THAT MATTER) NEED TO RECOVER FROM THE MATING AND  LAYING PROCESS, (APPROX 10 DAYS) ,EVEN ALLOWING FOR GOOD NUTRITION ETC ,BUT THAT APART, WITH A DECENT PAIRS' EGGS NEVER GOING TO WASTE , THIS IS A THREAD  WORTH DISCUSSING ISN'T IT?

[Guest Silverwings]

living in an old house i have a cellar .the fridge i use is an old one ,on lowest setting and is undisturbed in the cellar. i have never turned the eggs ? i have eight pairs in there at the moment  dated from may to august. and intend to experiment with them in feb .see if they turn ? should be interesting , will post a photo of the two late breds from six week old eggs .they seem realy strong

[THE FIFER]

when i was a lad my father kept a lot of hens and we used to keep eggs for weeks until we got a broody hen, never in the fridge, just in the house, (no central heating in them days ) i even remember the eggs were rationed and u got one each per week, from the local co-op and did not knoiw where they came from, but took the chance and tried sum under a broody hen and they hatched, of course in them days all hens were free range and had cockerals among them, but yes i have kept pigeon eggs for a couple of weeks and they have hatched, so long as u take them away as soon as laid.

[snowy]

WOW

[Guest]

Like others, have heard of eggs being 'stilled' usually kept in a box and 'turned' once per day. Don't see any difference in using a fridge to 'still' them, although too low operating temperature would worry me - ice crystals forming inside egg etc.

 

Good one. In theory, you never waste a stock pairs eggs. But could 6 weeks safely be extended to 6 months?

 

 

[Guest]

Brune

 

Thay keep sperm in  a fridge or ? freeze for years but what temperature , would it work with a egg

[westy]

this is a interesting topic i am going to try this next year

[Mistifire]

The only problem I have heard about besides the temperature extreme is if the air is too dry and the egg looses moisture.

 

The way I have heard works best is to put them in a container full of birdseed or something similar. Im told the seed keeps the humidity more stable.

 

I have had eggs hatch when they were refrigerated for a week, some that were room temp. for a while also hatched. Not as many hatch though, seems "the sooner the better" is true for this.

 

[Guest]

Can't answer your question, Heathcote ... I know ova and sperm can be frozen and kept indefinately for future use. But what we are talking about is a fertilised egg - a live embryo - with its development arrested by the temperature being too low. How and how long can it survive? Honestly don't know.

 

 

[carl]

Very intresting subject i must say..I will try this myself..

[PC]

On a side note i thought u wearnt ment 2 keep any eggs in the fridge as it makes the membrane more suseptible 2 salmonela getting thru it so if u did fridge them near hens eggs this could pass to them n cost u some of the young

[jimmy white]

AGREE WITH FIFERS POST AS WE HAD THE HENS [CHICKENS] AND MY FATHER DID THIS, I HAVE DID IT WITH PIGEON EGGS , BUT KEPT TURNING THEM BUT JUST TILL ABOUT A FORTNIGHT I DONT KNOW WHAT THE EXACT TEMP, WOULD BE, AND I DONT KNOW FORHOW LONG ,BUT WOULD BE INTERESTED TO FIND OUT.[ DIDNT REALIZE THIS WAS CAPITALS] :)]

[THEMAN]

I just had a new hen lay an egg on the bottom of the hutch and not in the bowl.  I placed the egg in the bowl, followed by the hen.  She did not like this and would sit in the bottom corner of the hutch where she layed the egg.  She never sat on the egg in the bowl and the outside temp has been around 38f.  A few days later she layed the second egg and I again moved it to the bowl.  She did the same and sat in the lower corner again.  Fearing the loss of both eggs I placed the bowl on bottom where she was.  The hen and the cock have both been sharing time on the eggs like normal.  I marked the number 2 egg and will post in Feb if they both hatched.  Of course the egg was only cold for a few days but its intersting still the same at least to me.

 

Tony

[Guest]

A coule of years ago, we went away for a few days and our pigeon friend was coming in to feed the birds, the breeders were sat on wooden eggs.  Just for a joke he took a real egg out of some we had stored in a coffee can, and swapped it with a wooden one.  We have no idea how old the egg was or how long it had been in the coffee can, but it hatched.  This gave me fits as I thought one of the wooden ones had produced the baby !!!!!!!!!!!

[pigeonpete]

very interesting topic all!! i kept pigeons about 10 years ago and during that time i lost a hen that had just layed her second egg i stupidly sent her training and never saw her again. so locked her box up with bowl and eggs still in!! anyway to cut a long story short i had another pair of pigeons who had just layed a due to fighting the eggs got smashed! so having no pot eggs i slipped the two eggs from the missing hen under this pair! and 1 of them hatched! i was gobsmacked   i will never forget it as when i looked at my records that other hen had been missing 7 weeks!! true story folks

 

pete

 

p.s the eggs were just in the loft in a bowl in normal june time weather?? :-/