Flora Eerschay

If it's forests, maybe goats would be better? I think sheep need meadows...

I've always been fascinated by the fact that the colour of fish is like a hologram, "displayed" on their scales. Sometimes it's also true for bird feathers; some of their colours or patterns are more of an optical illusion than actual pigment.

To me they taste like radish, which doesn't want to grow in my garden. My quails love the leaves, but they don't eat the flowers, although they prefer flowers of other plants - like mint, thyme, basil, etc.

Jay, this reminds me of a gadget I saw in one restaurant. There was a discount for clients who lock their phones in a small cage. The waiter kept the key. Or, the hatching eggs could be (safely) stored in a trap, to catch all those predators ;)

One of my reasons is that I could have the rest of the herd in the freezer and travel while the hatching eggs are stored... Which makes me think of putting them in a box filled with perlite and hanging up a tree on a string... which should keep them nicely ventilated, somewhat protected from humidity loss, bacteria, and physical damage, and the movement of the tree would do the turning. And temperature should be ok during autumn months, perlite keeping it stable but not the same all the time. The downside is that it might be a bait for predators. Dress it up as a scarecrow? I should turn off the mad scientist mode :D

Re' Burton wrote:A really cool job that is the culmination of all the diverse types of geology jobs that I have had over the past 37 years.  In Anchorage.

This sounds so cool. I would try. But I'm asking myself your main question too, and I want the lessons coming from new adventures.

Mad scientist mode! This is interesting too:
"Effects of Egg Storage Material and Storage Period on Hatchability in Japanese Quail" - they tried to reduce egg weight loss due to transpiration, by using different materials (B = no use of any storage material, P = use of perlite, H = use of hay).
Another problem during prolonged storage are bacteria developing, so perlite makes sense. From conclusion:

"Perlite is an inorganic material, having low heat conductivity and also in which microbial agents and bacterial fermentation cannot exist. [...] The present study revealed that perlite did not influence the early or late embryonic death rate but had an increasing effect on hatchability of quail eggs, in three storage periods. Perlite is concluded to be safe for use in the storage of hatching quail eggs."

I found some interesting research papers about this.

"Hatching performance of Japanese quail from eggs stored for different periods - a preliminary study - this article says, that although quail egg quality deteriorates during prolonged storage, the researchers still had good results hatching quail eggs stored for 24 days, which is longer than hen eggs.

"Although chicks obtained from the oldest eggs (24–32 days) showed significantly lower activity, poorer down quality and limb malformations, this did not significantly affect the differences in their overall evaluation."

The optimal eggs for incubation were considered to be those weighing 11.51–12.50 g. Researchers observed egg weight loss during storage, due to water transpiration.

Eggs in this experiment were stored at "physical zero conditions", which is a temperature at which embryo is not developing.

"Egg Storage and the Embryo" - this article discusses optimal temperature for egg storage; 15°C is considered "physiological zero", but in other experiments eggs were stored at room temperature. Also, eggs stored for longer time may not start developing in the incubator right away, so the incubation time may be extended too.

Most people say they can be stored for up to 2 weeks, or even 3 weeks. They should be at a temperature between 11-15 degrees Celsius, and turned twice a day (not upside down; just lift one side of the container and then the other). The rounded side should be up, because that's where the air sac is, and it shouldn't be under the weight of the egg.
How long have you stored hatching eggs before incubating them?

Edit: this is about quail eggs, and I guess it's similar with chicken eggs. Do you have experience with other eggs? Is it different?

My quail hens often use the dust bath just before laying eggs.