Brown egg fertility?

[Punkybrewster]

From my experience, hatching small pullet eggs CAN give you chicks that are runty and have more issues than larger mature hen eggs. Leg and foot issues, failure to thrive, etc.

 

[CHlCKEN]

Some eggs that are especially dark brown...eg, Marans eggs...will be harder to candle than white eggs. You will still be able to candle. What breeds do you have?

Each time you crack an egg, look for the bullseye. You might be able to find a rough estimate of what percentage fertile eggs you'll get.

Or, start incubation and just pull out the infertile as you go along.

Oh maybe that’s what they were asking. I didn’t understand what they meant

 

[CHlCKEN]

Pullets don’t always lay the best eggs for hatching. Wait until they’re in their best laying she 1-3 years old. To figure out if an egg is fertile, crack a couple open and find the bullseye. If both have them, there is a chance the others do. I wouldn’t hatch the Pullets eggs though. They’re just a little young to be producing good hatching eggs

 

[docdubz]

I hadn't thought about age affecting chick health that much. Thanks for the input.