I have six hens to one rooster, is it safe to assume all of my eggs are fertile and ready for the incubator?
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No. Have you observed he rooster mating with all the females? Even then there is no guarantee that the hens will be laying fertilized eggs. I have read that after mating the hens will produce fertilized eggs for five day however. In any event you would have a 50/50 chance of having fertilized eggs. My roosters mate with all my hens and I though I would try incubating some. After a couple of weeks I candled the eggs and there was no development in any of them. So, you are taking your chance and it may pay off with chicks. Just don't be too disappointed if it does not.I have six hens to one rooster, is it safe to assume all of my eggs are fertile and ready for the incubator?
I guess I should have clarified, they are still only about nine weeks old so this question was for future reference.
But this leads me to another question, when someone buys hatching eggs, how does the seller guarantee a good portion of the eggs will be fertile? Are they using different methods rather than letting nature take it's course?
I would never assume that any egg, no matter where from or what guarantee, had more than a 50/50 chance of being fertile. Even Murray McMurray says "Because of conditions beyond our control during incubation, we are unable to guarantee hatchability. However, all the eggs we ship will be fresh and guaranteed to get to you in good condition." They seem to indicate that there eggs are all fertile but your method of incubation might mess thing up and nothing would hatch. So, no guarantee of fertility.I guess I should have clarified, they are still only about nine weeks old so this question was for future reference.
But this leads me to another question, when someone buys hatching eggs, how does the seller guarantee a good portion of the eggs will be fertile? Are they using different methods rather than letting nature take it's course?