Can I put it in the incubator?

[daisylaines]

I am wondering - this egg I found today in the coop (our VERY first one!!) may or may not be fertilized, can I/should I incubate it?
Side note it may have been in the cold for an hour or more before I found it.

 

[sourland]

Generally pullet eggs are not recommended for incubation because of their small size. One hour chilling should not be a problem. If you want to incubate, why not wait until you have collected several eggs?

 

[TwoCrows]

X2 on what Sourland said.

Also, it takes about 2 weeks of roosters mating with hens for their eggs to be considered "fertilized" and if this is your very first egg, your pullets have probably not been accepting of the roo's long enough yet. Wait until your girls have their egg laying machines in gear, the roo's have been mating with them a few weeks, and like Sourland said, you have more eggs to incubate. Not every egg will hatch, and no sense in waiting 21 days on one egg that may not hatch.

 

[daisylaines]

Thanks for the advice! This is my first go as a chicken owner - I love them to bits and have had them since August, they have been mating for a bit now - but no eggs until today (so exciting!) there is so much to learn. Guess I can go make a sandwich with today's prize?

 

[TwoCrows]

Nothing better than eating that first egg! I was so excited when I got my first egg and the first thing I did with it, besides take a picture of it, LOL, was crack it open and fry it!!! THE best egg I have EVER had!

Enjoy your new chicken adventures!!