Can eggs from a hen who just began laying be fertile?

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Smartie_Pants

Smartie_Pants

Songster
11 Years
Oct 5, 2008
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Madisonville, KY
I found a nest of three eggs one of my EE's had been stashing. These are the first eggs she's ever laid. I really need some fertile eggs to put under my broody silkie and these are just the right size. Do you think they will be fertile? I've got PLEANTY of roos around.
 
They can be fertile but it is not a great idea to hatch the first eggs. It is possible as it is the beginning of the cycle that the chicks could hatch deformed. Usually it is best to wait a month or two before for hatching pullet eggs.

You will get a lot of replies that say it is okay to hatch them but I think you need to know the possibilities of handicap chicks and choose for yourself.
 
After I wrote that I got to thinking that the egg might be too small for the chick to grow normally in. Thanks for confirming that. Uh, nothing ever works the way you want it too, does it?
 
Hi! My experience with hatching 'pullet eggs' was not deformity issues, but chicks that would hatch and look fine --- but fall over dead within a day or so of hatch.
Never heard of (or seen) deformed / handicapped chicks from pullet eggs.
Here, they start growing and die during incubation or just aren't thrifty and die soon after hatch.
I've also read of folks hatching pullets first eggs and they hatched and grew just fine.
It's good to know what the odds are when you set eggs.
Just like with folks setting double-yolk eggs, you know 99.999% of the time they will die.
Good luck!
Lisa
 
Quote:
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By handicapped I mean chicks that won't thrive, missing an eye, messed up feet, internal issues, failure to absorb the yolks, etc., can be more likely than from older layers.
 
Hi! That's not what you initially said. You said:
...is possible as it is the beginning of the cycle that the chicks could hatch deformed.

Quote:
You hatched pullet eggs with one eye or where did you get that?

Please read my post again for info.


smile.png

Lisa​
 

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