Could my year old Bielfelder be infertile?

[anban12]

Hi all! We've been raising chickens for years, but don't have as much experience with hatching the eggs. Right now, I have a year old flock. The hens are all Buff Orpingtons, the main rooster is a Bielfelder, and the "extra chick" rooster is a Silver Spangled Hamburg. Our first batch of incubated eggs were infertile. Now I've just candled the 2nd batch of eggs and every single one of them is infertile, too! We've definitely seen them mating. The hens have been pecking at the Bielfelder's tail pretty vigorously, so he has a pretty bare butt for aiming. My Orpingtons are not the fluffiest examples of Orps I've ever seen. Honestly, they're about as fluffy as NH Reds. Any thoughts? Do we just need to rename the two roosters Stew and start over with another rooster?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

When are you candling eggs?

Bielfelders take a long time to mature. It's quite possible they're like jersey giants and may not be done growing yet

 

[anban12]

We are candling by Day 7. Oh, that's interesting, I didn't realize that our roo may not be mature yet. Somehow I just assumed that at 1 year old, he would be old enough. Thanks!