What are the chances my hens eggs are fertile? UPDATE

Thanks. I don't know much about colour genetics, she's just never had black chicks before, so I was just guessing. Of the last 20+ chicks she's had, spread over 3 hatches, they all looked exactly like the ones in the picture, and the only roo I kept long enough to tell feathered in like their dad. I can try to get a pic of the other roo if he comes close enough again.

ETA: I was very surprised to see black chicks, it doesn't seem to make much sense. Maybe she roamed further than I thought and was mated by completely different rooster?


Yeah, makes sense.

That's possible. Are there other roosters around? Do any chicks have feathered legs (even just a little), beards/muffs or any other dominant trait that would indicate a different parentage?

Or, could the eggs have come from a different hen?
 
They are definitely her eggs, they are all the exact same size and colour (white) and the only other hens on the farm never come near our house, but if they did their eggs would be bigger and brown.

I have never seen any other roosters around, the landlord actually has a few, but they all look like NH, I don't know if they're purebred though. I have never seen any other chickens near here. But I guess it's not impossible that the landlord has more that just don't come our way and so I haven't seen them?

Their legs are clean, I didn't notice any beards or muffs or anything, but their mom is very protective at the moment so I didn't look that closely. I'll get some pics as soon as she brings them out of the nest, probably later this afternoon or tomorrow morning. The weather is quite miserable here today so I don't think she's in a rush.
 
Ok. Sounds good! And congrats on the hatch!

Thanks. 7 are out now and the last one has pipped, so it looks like they'll all make it. Here's a little sneak preview
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You can't see in the pic but the black one has a naked neck too, all the buff and yellow ones are normal. I also only notice now when I looked at the photo again, even it's legs and beak are dark. I wonder if it isn't some kind of hidden gene that the mom was carrying all along that might have been hidden with the other roo but not the new one? With her 5 toes she might have a darker chicken in her lineage? I don't know if that's possible, just curious.
 
All 9 eggs succesfully hatched by Friday night, came out of the nest a little on Saturday, and today spent the whole day out in the tractor, running around and being adorable. One even caught itself a nice fat caterpillar
yippiechickie.gif
jumpy.gif






I can only keep two, but they're so cute I wanna keep them all
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Oh well, happy ending for broody, she looks so contented now.
 
I have laying chickens in a seperate coop, and I built a special tractor for this broody to raise her chicks. They will be able to free range most days, but there will be times when they are confined to the tractor, so once they're grown only 3 will fit comfortably, maybe 4 if they don't get too big. It's going to be tough choosing which ones to keep.
 
I have laying chickens in a seperate coop, and I built a special tractor for this broody to raise her chicks. They will be able to free range most days, but there will be times when they are confined to the tractor, so once they're grown only 3 will fit comfortably, maybe 4 if they don't get too big. It's going to be tough choosing which ones to keep.


Yeah, I can see that!
 

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