Did I luck out and get all girls?

[Crazy for Chickens!]

Pullets

Also just a side note:
When you eat fertilized eggs, you are not eating baby chickens. all it is is an egg, that has been fertilized, but it does not grow or develop unless incubated. I don't know if that is the reason your daughters don't eat eggs or not, but you shouldn't feel bad, because it's not even alive.

 

[MGB]

Pullets
I don't know if that is the reason your daughters don't eat eggs or not, but you shouldn't feel bad, because it's not even alive.

Thanks for the clarification. I have dim and vaguely unpleasant memories of the one or two times I've accidentally come across a fertilized egg in my time, but no recent experience of it and couldn't quite remember how different they would look when cracked. And just to be clear, my daughters eat the heck out of eggs, just not meat and not anything with visibly "icky" components. As we hadn't yet ruled out any roos, they were worried about eating tiny fetuses.

 

[Crazy for Chickens!]

Thanks for the clarification. I have dim and vaguely unpleasant memories of the one or two times I've accidentally come across a fertilized egg in my time, but no recent experience of it and couldn't quite remember how different they would look when cracked. And just to be clear, my daughters eat the heck out of eggs, just not meat and not anything with visibly "icky" components. As we hadn't yet ruled out any roos, they were worried about eating tiny fetuses.

I understand! The only difference when the egg is raw, is a little circle with a white ring around it. The only way it would start developing would be if one of your hens sat on it for a day or two. Then it would start getting blood vessels around it and would start developing.
I just found this out the other day, and I thought it was really neat! Did ou know that chick embryos have a heartbeat at day 2 of incubation??

 

[Redhead Rae]

Congrats on all girls.

FYI, this is all you would see if the eggs are eaten without being incubated. A little bullseye. Most people wouldn't notice anything different. In fact, if you buy "free range" eggs in the grocery store, they are often fertile.

 

[Crazy for Chickens!]

Congrats on all girls.

FYI, this is all you would see if the eggs are eaten without being incubated. A little bullseye. Most people wouldn't notice anything different. In fact, if you buy "free range" eggs in the grocery store, they are often fertile.
View attachment 1499383

Exactly!

 

[Redhead Rae]

FWIW, I have roosters and I don't refrigerate. I have yet to find any partially developed chicks in my food.

 

[Buffbrahmasforever]

All pullets. Hope you get better RIR, then I did. Mine layed great for a month or two then dropped for fall and winter. She didn't start again till mid summer. I'm trying my luck again, added one to my newest batch. Her name is Hope.

 

[MGB]

FYI, this is all you would see if the eggs are eaten without being incubated.

Thanks Rae. That's a very helpful image.

 

[MGB]

Mine layed great for a month or two then dropped for fall and winter. She didn't start again till mid summer. I'm trying my luck again, added one to my newest batch. Her name is Hope.

Hah. Hope hope delivers. From what I read, Reds are consistent layers.

 

[ronott1]

Hey y'all,

Relatively new chicken owner here with 3 Rhode Island Reds and 3 Buff Orpingtons, all of which are now at about 24 weeks. Just started getting my first eggs (or egg) the other day, and I'm wondering if I can conclusively determine gender by this point, as we're not allowed to keep roosters and I want to avoid disturbing my vegetarian daughters with fertilized eggs.

I don't see any definite roos in my flock, but as I said I'm a total newbie. All three RIRs seem to have prominent combs and wattles and at least four of the six repeatedly make a very annoying squawk-like sound (think chain-smoking woman screeching at her husband) that I suppose could be a crow-in-training. The Orpingtons don't seem to have matured as fast and aren't quite as vocal, but what do I know?

Any help sexing would be hugely appreciated. Here's the lineup:

Kybele

Nutmeg (not a great pic)

Rose

Azalea

Dottie

Daisy

That is not a crow in training! It is the egg song and pullets practice it a lot before laying eggs. Later they sing the song each time an egg is laid