Egg hatching the natural way

[cmerk]

Twice now we have broody hens sitting on a stack of eggs. Neither nest produced any chicks. Could our rooster be sterile?
This little egg struck us as funny.

 

[sourland]

What breeds are you working with? Some overly fluffy breeds have difficulty making 'contact' during breeding and plucking feather around the vents of the hens and rooster can help. You say that they are setting on 'stacks' of eggs. A broody hen should have no more than a single layer of eggs that she can effectively cover. If eggs are indeed stacked, that can impact viability. Try a forum search on 'bullseye' - threads containing the bulls eye appearance of fertile eggs will appear, and you can compare to your eggs. Good luck at resolving this. Yes, there is always the possibility that your rooster is not fertile, but unless he is old, severely inbred, or in poor health that is not likely.