How to Tell a Fertile vs INfertile Egg (Pictures)

[WRVgirl]

So so so glad I found this thread!!!

My husband and I have been arguing as to whether our Roo is doing his job [He's still really young, but is mounting here our cochin (who isn't laying yet...poor girl is getting raped, and I can tell she hates it)]

So I took an egg from each of our hens who are laying and stuck them in the incubator.

I told the husband there was no way the eggs were fertile, I think the roo is way too young...but he tried to tell me that the blood spot is a sign of a fertile egg!

Fast forward 5 days: the eggs aren't growing and I can't wait to rub hubby's nose in the fact that a blood spot is NOT a sign of a fertile egg

Ha ha ha. Thanks for all of the information! I can't wait until our eggs ARE fertile.

 

[aoxa]

Heres another fertile egg to add to the album.

 

[SweetPeaMcD]

So what do you think about the egg on the right??

 

[SweetPeaMcD]

What do you mean by "blood spot"?

 

[aoxa]

What do you mean by "blood spot"?

The egg on your right looks weird, but the one on the left looks fertile.

 

[jockeyeba]

How long does a hen stay fertile after being bred?

 

[sumi]

A hen will lay fertile eggs for ± 2 weeks after one successful mating.

 

[EthenNoah]

i have a silkie hen that is laying eggs but not sitting on them, i broke one open today and it looks fertile so why is she not sitting on them?

 

[sumi]

A hen won't sit on eggs unless she's broody. And broodiness is hormonal. It can happen any moment and some hens never go broody. Ever. While others go broody all the time. Silkies do tend to go broody more often than the average though. Hens don't know if an egg is fertile or not. Basically a broody hen will sit on an fake egg quite happily, as long as she has an egg (or something that resembles an egg, like a golf ball) under her she'll be happy. You can't make a hen go broody, but you can encourage it by leaving fake eggs in the box for them. I've had some success with this method, but it really depends on the individual hen if it will work or not.

 

[EthenNoah]

ok thank you