Bought a dz hatching eggs, only 5 fertile, is this the norm/acceptable?

[roosterhavoc]

If they are selling them as fertile yes. Otherwise they would be what possibly fertile. Dunno haven’t bought eggs before. So how do you? Is it just a cross your fingers crap shoot. For 50$ there should be some kind of accountability shouldn’t there? Or am I nuts? (Don’t answer that)

By my math and your count of skunks you could have $250 worth of hatching eggs by now. Just gotta have the right touch.

 

[Peeperscreepers]

I had read that chick strength and survival were better in spring...

That has not been my personal experience... I see absolutely ZERO difference between my winter or spring hatched chicks... that I have quantified yet... but it's worth taking a DEEPER look into.

I agree that in NATURE that is the way... There need to be more spring chicks to feed the spring hawklings and such... but here my birds do have access to same abundance of feed all year long... I have broody's in the breaker ALL winter long. I don't have to keep them in a box, my pasture is green and bugs are EVEN more abundant than in summer and they can warm up under broody's, should that be the route I choose.

Indeed people do have different environments, set ups, and ideas.

But I did NOT miss out on part that is TRUE for SOME flocks in your first post... that fertility CAN be lower this time of year!

I only ask because I remember reading that after a period of time that evidence may not still be left but somehow degraded and re absorbed to look like nothing ever happened... so I was just curious, as I am here to learn. Doesn't sound like that was your issue at all.

Giving that this person does show with several years of experience with the same breed... and you DID discuss fertility and had a reasonable expectation of "good" fertility... I hope that when you approach kindly you will get a satisfactory resolution! Have you thought about what that might be?

Hoping for 100% hatch rate of all that were fertile!

I will contact her as much as I hate to, I'm very passive anyways. But she should know. I haven't thought about it till now, but I would of been happy with 8 or 9 chicks out of 12 or 18 if you count the extras, I know when you deal with livestock or animals it's in the hands of nature, so I think 9 out of 18 leaves a very GENEROUS count with things that happen ie quitters, cracked eggs, loss due to accisental error etc.. but I do not want live birds hence why I am hatching, to reduce the chance of possible disease exposure to my original flock, maybe she will meet me with a few eggs enough that I could hatch 4-5 more chicks counting for lack of fertility. Hey my first batch just started to pip and one piped more in the middle of the eggs than the others and some yellow stuff leaked out, what's going on with that?

 

[MissChick@dee]

By my math and your count of skunks you could have $250 worth of hatching eggs by now. Just gotta have the right touch.

I paid $2.50 each for my chicks. Didn’t have to go through all the incubation & stress. Don’t know if I’ll ever re-“coop” any money. The ratio now is each of my fresh eggs cost about $59.99!! To me a dead skunk~priceless!
Gotta keep the girls safe so they can work off their debt.

 

[ronott1]

I paid $2.50 each for my chicks. Didn’t have to go through all the incubation & stress. Don’t know if I’ll ever re-“coop” any money. The ratio now is each of my fresh eggs cost about $59.99!! To me a dead skunk~priceless!
Gotta keep the girls safe so they can work off their debt.

I bought fertile eggs from Trader Joes and Whole foods. I set 46(two were cracked) and hatched out 30 plus chicks. The eggs were $2.99 per dozen and I had all of the fun and excitement of hatching chicks!

It is addicting

 

[MissChick@dee]

I’ve heard the “Trader Joe’s”
Thingie before still just can’t wrap my head around it.
Good thing I heard about it after I already had my chickens because my skepticism would get the best of me and I’d just have to try some. Ronott are you trying to turn me into a hatchaholic?

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hey my first batch just started to pip and one piped more in the middle of the eggs than the others and some yellow stuff leaked out, what's going on with that?

That would be not a good sign.

Possible malposition. I had heard of them accidentally getting a blood vein, but not the yolk yet...

I would suggest that you go ahead and start another thread, maybe with some pics. If you tag me with @ in front of my user name, I will join in and share what tips I can.. in addition to calling out some other hatch aholics with lots of experience (though slightly different than mine which is key) that are usually very willing to help.

@roosterhavoc I did want to mention that earlier (must have been more than a month now since I have chicks already), my fertility was not 100%... in fact it was about 50% during my first incubation to confirm fertility before selling the requested eggs. I sat new eggs each weak as I had added a fresh cockerel who takes time to win the ladies over. Plus dealing with broody's is something I haven't yet determined how it effects my fertility, but I imagine it does. Over a 4 week period my fertility increased each week... BUT indeed my hatch rate was lower than ever... research indicates a riboflavin deficiency despite the fact that I feed a 20% protein flock raiser and don't do excess treat or hardly any. I'm thinking MAYBE the Silkies just need more riboflavin than other breeds for whatever reason.. but I haven't tried hatching the others yet this instant for comparison. I did however have eggs from a friend that weren't collected or stored correctly and some were about 2 weeks old. Those had 100% fertility and 85% hatch just 5 days ago. One thing that is giving us both the high fertility... young breeding stock. I'm SURE older birds are more effected by the drop in hormones and such seasonally. I personally make sure to add fresh stock each year and move on those that don't meet my goals. But we each have different ways of maintaining our flocks and I get that. I just wanted to share that I also don't have 100% fertility all the time... well, I mean I keep my boys in a stag pen, so my hen pen has zero fertility right now.

I also wanna say that while I read that spring chicks are hardier... I also read that feeding corn keeps chickens warm in winter (hogwash). I'm just not the type of person who can take things at face value... I wanna know the deeper truth AND bust the myths that get perpetuated. Please don't take it personal! I have been eating my chicken eggs year round for about 9 years so far... I have never noticed a difference in quality between spring or winter eggs, but I love information and it's a great question!

 

[roosterhavoc]

@EggSighted4Life I suppose everyone has different goals in mind. It really depends on what you’re breeding for whether or not you want to continuously add and breed new stock. If you’re breeding for numbers and or colors I suppose that’s one way to do it. If you’re breeding for overall quality and longevity of a bird adding new breeders all the time seems like it would produce inconsistent results.
I mix 5 grain scratch in with 20% pellets year round so all my chickens get whole corn every single day regardless of temp.
I think people spin things around. It’s not that corn keeps them warmer it’s more food/carbs will keep a bird warmer as it digests.
Birds just burn more calories in winter to stay warm so an increase in corn during this time has less ill effects like gaining body fat since calories are being burned much faster.

 

[aart]

I think people spin things around. It’s not that corn keeps them warmer it’s more food/carbs will keep a bird warmer as it digests.
Birds just burn more calories in winter to stay warm so an increase in corn during this time has less ill effects like gaining body fat since calories are being burned much faster.

There's a myth that will never die..SMH.
Any digestion creates 'heat'...funniest part is that most feeds are mostly corn.

 

[dunnmom]

Funny story about this... My mom purchased some barnyard mix eggs from a guy for her incubator a few times early this spring. She got 50% fertility rate. She bought some for one of my broodies a few weeks later, and all of them were fertile, all hatched. I expected a lot less chicks, so had way too many babies. It’s 6 one way, half a dozen the other sometimes.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

If you’re breeding for overall quality and longevity of a bird adding new breeders all the time seems like it would produce inconsistent results.

If you have perfect birds, maybe adding new ones each year isn't right. So far none of my birds are perfect... so I keep the best of the best and eat (or sell) the rest. Regarding the consistency... I'm not adding new outside stock, I'm correcting anything that needs it from my own breeding program... last year my Marans rooster had some white in his tail, this year that is gone. When I first started, they were a little too light in the hackles kinda brassy... but as I continue to learn about the breed I also learn what to select for and got good copper color this year. Can't worry about longevity if the birds don't measure up otherwise. Older birds only get replaced when there is something more worthwhile, not willy nilly... but yes every single year I swap about half my stock for the next generation of improved birds, and partly to keep my fertility and production up during the "slow" season. I may hatch a hundred or more and end up with very few "keepers"... as leakage and other things happen. Longevity is something I can worry about ONCE my birds are where I want them. Quality IS what I am focusing on.

Carbs and protein have the same amount of calories. For me I get more nutrition in protein than carbs for the SAME amount of energy. I understand that you meant more food equals more calories equals more energy byproduct of digestion allowing for the furnace to be stoked. But is corn really giving any more energy... than what? Technically fat has the most amount of energy yet I don't see chicken folk saying feed your birds bacon. Anyways, I just meant it as an example of the MANY things people read and then blindly follow without ever considering reality of how things function. Not to start a whole other topic or discussion.

Thank you for sharing you thoughts with me. Hope you can see that even though we do all have different thoughts and experiences that doesn't mean ONE way is the ONLY way... EVEN if that's what all the old school information says. Grandpa may have been wise... but he didn't have access to all the information we do today. And what held true then does NOT always hold true now.