Aussie Finch Forum

Hi there,
Could someone help me with this question?
How long will a newly laid fertile egg keep before it must be incubated?

Thanks for any comments.

Aussie_Bengo wrote:Hi there,
Could someone help me with this question?
How long will a newly laid fertile egg keep before it must be incubated?

Thanks for any comments.

Hi Paul,i know chicken/quail eggs can be stored at a cool temperature for up to two weeks and still be fertile when brooded. Craig

Canary eggs can stay fertile for to up to 14 days,(at room temp), provided the eggs are turned every day
so the sperm cannot rise to the inside of the shell, stick to it, and die.

I have kept canary eggs for up to 7 days to set a few nests at the same time. I do not turn the eggs during this time.

My father used to keep poultry eggs for up to 14 days before setting a batch in the incubator. He did turn the eggs each day in the incubator, and kept water in the bottom to maintain the humidity.

A guy in Sunbury keeps gouldian eggs on cotton wool ,turns every day ,for up to 14 days,never done it myself,garyh

Why?

BOF33 wrote:Why?

There is a good reason for this,some gouldians lay up to and over 7 eggs.The hen gouldian then starts to incubate usually after the second or third egg has been laid but keeps laying an egg a day for possibly another four days,which means the last egg laid is 3 or 4 days less in development to the first two eggs laid.If all the eggs are left to hatch as they where laid in consecutive days the first two or three chicks will crush the last two or three because of their size and vigour to be fed.
So if you take an egg away a day and replace with a dummy egg until she stops laying then replace the whole clutch at the same time all the eggs will hatch at the same time and the chicks WILL be the same age and size which gives them a better chance at life. Hope that makes sense Craig

Craig52 wrote:

BOF33 wrote:Why?

There is a good reason for this,some gouldians lay up to and over 7 eggs.The hen gouldian then starts to incubate usually after the second or third egg has been laid but keeps laying an egg a day for possibly another four days,which means the last egg laid is 3 or 4 days less in development to the first two eggs laid.If all the eggs are left to hatch as they where laid in consecutive days the first two or three chicks will crush the last two or three because of their size and vigour to be fed.
So if you take an egg away a day and replace with a dummy egg until she stops laying then replace the whole clutch at the same time all the eggs will hatch at the same time and the chicks WILL be the same age and size which gives them a better chance at life. Hope that makes sense Craig

I had a different reason for storing eggs- I had a pair that produced beautiful chicks, but the male would kill them by the 3rd day. However, I also had a pair that were excellent parents, but consistently laid infertile eggs. So I would give the psychos eggs to the foster parents to incubate and raise.

Craig52 wrote:

BOF33 wrote:Why?

There is a good reason for this,some gouldians lay up to and over 7 eggs.The hen gouldian then starts to incubate usually after the second or third egg has been laid but keeps laying an egg a day for possibly another four days,which means the last egg laid is 3 or 4 days less in development to the first two eggs laid.If all the eggs are left to hatch as they where laid in consecutive days the first two or three chicks will crush the last two or three because of their size and vigour to be fed.
So if you take an egg away a day and replace with a dummy egg until she stops laying then replace the whole clutch at the same time all the eggs will hatch at the same time and the chicks WILL be the same age and size which gives them a better chance at life. Hope that makes sense Craig

One thing that isnt clear to me Craig, is that if the Gouldian is incubating at 3 days would not every egg gathered after that point have begun the development process (even by only hours potentially) so would shelving them during this process render them as duds? Id love to hear the answer to this.

Hi Aussie Bengo,i can only tell you that this person has good results in what he does,what Craig says is true ,but the eggs are collected from day one so no incubating starts until the hen begins to sit properly,this is my understanding,garyh