Curious

[GardenGal]

How long after you re-home your rooster can you still have fertile eggs? We re-homed our roosters just a few days before Christmas, and last week I cracked an egg open that looked fertilized! Huh? Like a dummy, I didn't take a picture. Do roosters leave their...calling cards for that long?

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I've heard 3 weeks.

 

[Mum]

If your hens have been without a male since Christmas, it is very unlikely to have been fertile.

 

[bobbi-j]

What did you see that made it look fertilized? Just curious, because I've never been able to tell until after several days of incubation.

 

[donrae]

I'm also wondering what criteria you're using to consider the egg fertile.

 

[GardenGal]

I went by pictures I found on BYC: the "bullseye" in the egg. I noticed our eggs had them shortly after the roosters figured out what they were supposed to do. It wasn't a blood speck, it looked just like the same bullseye. Kind of a moot point now, just made me wonder!

 

[duckinnut]

Unless you have a neighbor with a rooster making a stop by and saying hello. If your girls are free ranging.