Am I fertilized?

[kno]

Hi All,

So I about 5 months ago I bought 7 fresh chicks to add to my current flock of 5 layers. They are mixed breeds and as luck would have it one of them is a Rooster. I introduced the young birds to my older hens about 2 weeks ago and they have all learned to get along together without too much trouble. The older hens are definitely dominant over all of the younger ones including the rooster. Anyway, I noticed last weekend that the rooster is definitely hot to trot when they come out of the coop in the AM and has been trying to mount the young hens without much success (during my 5 min observation before I leave for work anyway). So my question is this, my older hens have begun laying more frequently so today i cracked an egg in a yolk separator instead of a skillet to see if i could tell if it was fertilized. I see a distinct circle (which i understand from here http://www.ca.uky.edu/smallflocks/_images/Fertile_vs_Infertile_egg.png means it's fertile) i was hoping i could get some more seasoned eyes to look at my pics and advise. I inherited a older model 5200 Little giant incubator and model 6200 egg turner (I have plenty of incubator questions as well, but i don't want to get ahead of myself) i plan to test drive with these eggs if they are fertile.

Attached are a few photos I have more available if these aren’t enough…

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
kno

 

[pgpoultry]

Looks fertile to my less-than-perfect eyes.

 

[AZBootsie]

Kinda hard to see in the pics with glare on my screen. First pic I am pretty sure I can make out a ring. Yep, looks fertile to me.

 

[AZBootsie]

Just noticed this is your first post.

A great big

and congratulations on the fertile eggs. Have a great hatch!!!

 

[kno]

Thanks! I found my egg gathering and incubator answers here

http://backyardchickens.yuku.com/topic/1604/t/hatching-egg-care-guide.html

Thanks again! I'll try to follow up with a success story...

 

[kno]

Success! Sort of...

I hatched 2 out of 18 eggs. About half may have not been fertilized as i candled at a week and they were still very clear compared to the others. One of them is doing fine. The other was lost due to what looked like the intestine hanging out after pasting up.

These two hatched about 2 days ahead of schedule, how long do i give the remaining half dozen before I give up on them? I’m thinking very soon... They were due to hatch Sunday. They don't appear to have any activity going on.

Also, is the hatch normally clean? Between the two eggs hatching they left a ton of mess inside the incubator. I guess i thought they would just slowly work their way out of the shell all peaceful like.

Anyway, I'll post pics of my 1 healthy chick when i get a chance.

Thanks for the help, both to those who responded and those who have detailed posts for reference!

 

[cmom]

too. It is a little hard to tell from the glare but in your pictures it looks like your egg is fertile to me. I wait up to usually day 23/24 before I dispose of the unhatched eggs. I tap on the eggs and if I hear anything then back into the incubator but usually by that time they have expired. Sometimes I break open the shells and do an eggtopsie. Most of the time the chicks are fully formed, just quitters. Maybe they did pip the air sack. I did have one I thought was gone but when I opened the shell it started peeping. What a nice surprise. It's doing well.