Differentiating Eggs

[Pollitos Mami]

Hi! How can I tell if my chickens lay eggs with baby chicks or without?

 

[ChestnutRidge]

If you do not have a rooster, none of the eggs will be fertilized. There is no chance of baby chicks.

If you do have a rooster, some of the eggs will be fertilized. There is no baby chick inside; the chick will only begin to grow when the hen sits on the egg or if the egg is kept very warm. If you collect your eggs everyday, the egg will not be warm enough to start to grow.

Sometimes you open an egg and see a red spot. That is not a chick - it's called a meat spot. It means a little piece of the hen's insides ended up in the egg.

If you want baby chicks, get a rooster. Then, after a few weeks, you can check your eggs to see if they are fertilized. Crack an egg into a bowl. All eggs have a little white spot on the yolk. If the spot looks like a bullseye, with a clear circle in the middle, it is fertilized. Then, you know your rooster is doing his job. You can collect more eggs and put them in an incubator, or you can put them under a broody hen. Not all hens will go broody, and you can't make a hen go broody. That's why so many people choose to artifically incubate.

Have fun with your chickens, and

 

[Pollitos Mami]

Thank You!