Broody Bantam - Infertile eggs?

[jmkrusch]

Hi everyone, justs looking for some guidance here. I have a bantam old english game chicken who had gone broody. After finding her underneath out coop 3 times and forcing her out, she finally started sitting on the nest inside, so we decided to let her keep it. She is fiercly protective. So she has now been sitting on a nest of 8 bantam eggs since last Sunday (1 week).

Last night I tried candling the eggs using my iphone light, but I cant see any sign of veins or anything. I can see a darker shadow where the yolk is, but that is it. I will take a picture tonight and post it.

We have two roosters (one older barred rock, and a new bantam rooster thats a year old). I would think her eggs are fertile, but since I couldnt see veins in the eggs she is sitting on, I cracked some of the other bantam eggs inside and they do not look like they have the bullseye at all (on a side note, all of the regular sized chicken's eggs are all fertilized).

All said, do you think that she would be sitting on the eggs so determindly if they were not fertilized? Should I be able to see more in the eggs, or is just seeing the yolk good enough for now? Should I let her continue to sit and hope for the best?

Any guidance would be appreciated as this is my first time allowing a chicken to sit. Thankyou!

 

[AustralorpsAU]

Your iPhone light might not be strong enough to see properly into the eggs! She will sit on the eggs, trying to hatch them, regardless if they are fertile or not. It's probably worth getting a flashlight to candle the eggs to get a good look at them. I hope this helps

 

[jmkrusch]

Thank you for the advice. I tried again tonight with a super good LED light. Still all I could see was the yolk (today should have been day 8).

And so I got overly curious and stole and egg to crack inside. No fetus - only a smelly runny yolk. I dont think any of them are fertile :/

Tomorrow night I will switch her eggs out for fertile eggs and hope she stays on them (they will have to be normal chicken size - I dont think any of my bantams eggs are fertile).

I have attached photos anyways in case any one comes across this thread and is in a similar spot.

 

[AustralorpsAU]

Yes it doesnt look like any of those eggs are fertile. I hope in the future u can hatch out some little chicks. I hope everything works out