How to Store Hatching Eggs Before Setting
TL;DR: Hatchability starts declining from the day the egg is laid, so set eggs as fresh as you can and treat about a week as your working window. Store them pointed end down, somewhere cool but well above refrigerator temperature, out of sun and draughts, and turn them daily if holding more than a couple of days. Never wash them — it strips the shell’s protective cuticle — and never refrigerate them. Let them warm to room temperature before setting.
Everyone concentrates on the incubator. A meaningful share of failed hatches were decided before the eggs went in.
Why Storage Matters at All
A fertile egg contains a live embryo that has already begun to develop before it is laid, and then paused. That pause is not indefinite — the egg loses moisture, the contents change, and viability declines with time and with the conditions it is held in.
Two consequences for a backyard keeper:
- Collecting a batch takes days, and every one of those days is storage.
- How you store them during that collection window measurably affects how many hatch.
The Storage Rules
| Rule | Detail | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Cool, not cold | Well above refrigerator temperature; a cool room, not the ref | Refrigeration damages hatchability |
| Pointed end down | Blunt end up, air cell at the top | Long storage the other way is linked to poorer hatches |
| Turn daily | Tilt the tray side to side once a day if holding more than a couple of days | Keeps the yolk from settling against the membrane |
| Out of sun and draughts | Stable conditions, no direct sunlight | Temperature swings and drying |
| Do not wash | Set clean eggs, do not clean dirty ones | Washing strips the cuticle and can drive bacteria inward |
| Do not set cracked eggs | Even hairline cracks | Bacterial entry; they contaminate the batch |
| Fresh is best | Set as soon as you have your batch | Hatchability declines with time |
The Two Things That Ruin Hatching Eggs
1. Washing. A freshly laid egg carries a natural protective coating, the cuticle, over a porous shell. Washing removes it. Worse, washing with water cooler than the egg can draw liquid — and bacteria with it — inward through the pores.
So: collect clean eggs rather than cleaning dirty ones. That means clean, dry nest boxes, enough of them, checked and refreshed. Collect frequently so eggs are not sat on and soiled. If an egg is lightly soiled, a very light dry wipe is the most that should be done, and heavily soiled eggs should not be set at all.
2. The refrigerator. It is the obvious place to keep eggs and it is the wrong one. Refrigerator temperatures are far below what a hatching egg tolerates, and hatchability suffers accordingly. Cool room storage, out of the sun, is what you want.
Collecting the Batch
Practical routine for a backyard flock:
- Collect at least twice a day, more in hot weather. Eggs left in the nest get soiled, get hot, and get sat on.
- Choose good eggs: normal shape, normal size for the breed, sound shell, clean. Avoid very small, very large, misshapen, thin-shelled or rough-shelled eggs — see soft-shelled and thin-shelled eggs for what causes those.
- Mark each egg in pencil with the date collected. Pencil, not marker — shells are porous.
- Store as above, pointed end down, turning daily.
- Set them all at once so the batch develops together and hatches together.
If you are hatching under a hen rather than in a machine, the same collection rules apply — see hatching under a broody hen.
Before They Go In
- Let cool eggs come up to room temperature before setting. Putting cold eggs straight into a warm humid incubator causes condensation on the shell, and moisture on a porous shell helps bacteria in.
- Do not force-warm them. Just leave them out of the storage spot for a while.
- Set them all together, and start counting day 1 from then.
- Have the incubator running and verified first — see incubator temperature.
Fertility Is a Separate Question
Storage protects an egg’s hatchability. It cannot create fertility.
- A hen lays without a rooster, and those eggs are infertile and will never hatch — see can hens lay eggs without a rooster.
- You cannot judge fertility from outside the egg. Candling around day 7 tells you — see candling eggs.
- Fertility depends on the rooster’s condition, age and the number of hens he covers, plus the breeding management generally. For gamefowl breeding practice, see priming broodcocks and broodhens.
Our why eggs did not hatch guide covers how to tell an infertile egg from an early death after the fact — a distinction that decides whether your next fix is in the breeding pen or in the incubator.
The Honest Limits Here
That hatchability declines with storage time, that hatching eggs should be kept cool rather than refrigerated, stored blunt end up, turned during storage, and not washed, is standard hatchery and extension guidance. This guide gives no specific storage temperature and humidity figures and no maximum number of days, because published optimum ranges are written for controlled storage rooms that a backyard keeper does not have, and quoting them as if they were achievable at home would mislead. The practical version — cool, stable, out of the sun, turned daily, set as fresh as possible — is what actually applies in a Philippine backyard.
Related: how to incubate chicken eggs, candling eggs, why eggs did not hatch, hatch rate.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long can hatching eggs be stored before setting?
Hatchability declines steadily with storage time, with the drop becoming pronounced after about a week. Set eggs as fresh as you practically can, and treat the first week as your working window.
Should hatching eggs be refrigerated?
No. Refrigerator temperatures are too cold for hatching eggs and damage hatchability. Store them somewhere cool but well above refrigeration temperature.
Can I wash dirty hatching eggs?
Do not wash them. Washing removes the natural protective cuticle on the shell and can drive bacteria through the pores into the egg. Collect clean eggs from clean nests instead, and set only clean ones.
Which way up should stored hatching eggs sit?
Pointed end down, blunt end up, so the air cell stays at the top. Storing them upside down for long periods is associated with poorer hatch results.
Do stored eggs need turning?
If they are held more than a couple of days, turn them daily. Tilting the whole tray from one side to the other once a day is the usual method.
Do eggs need to warm up before going into the incubator?
Letting cool eggs come up to room temperature before setting avoids condensation forming on the shell, which is undesirable because moisture on a porous shell helps bacteria get in.
How can I tell if an egg is fertile before setting it?
You cannot tell reliably from the outside. Fertility is confirmed by candling around day 7 of incubation, or by cracking an egg and examining the germinal disc, which of course means that egg will not hatch.