Egg fertility question

[cmom]

I came across these pictures.
Fertile egg

Infertile egg

 

[LarryTX]

The pullets need to be laying eggs that weigh at least 55 grams for it to go well, have they been laying awhile? You don't want to incubate the first pullet eggs.

And do you mean you don't want the pullets' feathers messed up, or the males'?

These are older pullets show showing. They are starting to lay and the size is normal for their breed. The roosters can mess up the pullets/hens hackle feather when treading them.

 

[LarryTX]

I breed my birds for show. Part of the year I have birds picked out to go into my breeding pens which I will be setting up after the holidays. I collect the eggs for hatching after they have been in their breeding pens for a month because sometimes I have taken females out of one pen that has a male and put them in a coop and pen with a different male and I want to be sure the chicks are from the male I want the females to breed with. I eat a few eggs when I first start collecting them for hatching to check for fertility. Good luck and have fun...
What did you buy for an incubator, just curious.
This was one of my champion Rhode Island Red females.
View attachment 1618392

This is her first incubator and she’s 10, so I didn’t go all out. I bought her a Harris Farms, Nurture Right 360. Just to be safe, I copied the instruction literature to keep at my house.

 

[LarryTX]

By 'single mate', do you mean one male with one female kept penned together for a time?

When do you plan to incubate?
Pullet eggs can be iffy for incubation, might be best to wait a few months.

Sounds like a great project for you and your GD to do together!
Have y'all incubated before?

By single mating I mean one rooster to one female. Sometimes, I have had 3-4 hens in one pen, but only expose them to the one rooster. I have also moved a single rooster to two pens, rotating him every few days.

We plan on putting them under the lights at the end of January.

 

[sourland]

Good luck to you and your grand daughter with the incubation, raising, and showing. Love of birds did not take on any of my grand kids.

 

[LarryTX]

I breed my birds for show. Part of the year I have birds picked out to go into my breeding pens which I will be setting up after the holidays. I collect the eggs for hatching after they have been in their breeding pens for a month because sometimes I have taken females out of one pen that has a male and put them in a coop and pen with a different male and I want to be sure the chicks are from the male I want the females to breed with. I eat a few eggs when I first start collecting them for hatching to check for fertility. Good luck and have fun...
What did you buy for an incubator, just curious.
This was one of my champion Rhode Island Red females.
View attachment 1618392

Congratulations on your Rhode Island Reds. They are pretty birds. Luckley I want have to deal with switching males. The hens have been with the rooster for a year and the pullets have never been exposed to a rooster. Thank you for your help.

 

[LarryTX]

Since cmom posted the photos of the fertile and infertile eggs, I decided to put a rooster on a young hen that has never been with a male bird. I will check her eggs and search for the bullseye on her eggs and see how long it takes for this particular hen to have a fertile egg. Do you have to search the top and bottom sides for the bullseye? I hope not. I tried turning over the yoke of a egg today without breaking the yoke and it’s not as easy as one would think.
Thanks

 

[Mosey2003]

Sometimes you gotta flip it. Pour it into your hand, that works for me.

 

[LarryTX]

Sometimes you gotta flip it. Pour it into your hand, that works for me.

Thanks, I’ll give it a try with the next egg.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Since cmom posted the photos of the fertile and infertile eggs, I decided to put a rooster on a young hen that has never been with a male bird. I will check her eggs and search for the bullseye on her eggs and see how long it takes for this particular hen to have a fertile egg. Do you have to search the top and bottom sides for the bullseye? I hope not. I tried turning over the yoke of a egg today without breaking the yoke and it’s not as easy as one would think.
Thanks

You're right, it isn't as easy as it sounds. My old eyes have a bit of trouble. Sometimes I use a magnifying glass.
The blastodisc/blastoderm are not always on top so it is sometimes necessary to flip the yolk gently.
I'm looking forward to hearing how long before you get a yolk with a balstoderm.