Eggs not developing - please help me figure out what's wrong

[VlkStinu]

Hi there, I just candled my second batch of eggs on their 7th day - had 13 of them in the incubator - all turned out to be void of any development. Same happened with my previous batch of 12 eggs, candled at day 10.

To give you a bit of a background - I introduced a new 2 year old rooster to my small flock of 3 hens in March. My hens are ex-battery rescues, hybrids - most probably isabrown and lohman brown. Only two of them lay eggs, the third one has chronic health issues that made her stop laying.

The rooster quickly assimilated and just out of curiosity, I checked the egg yolks a week later. I posted photos of them here in another thread and they were confirmed by multiple people as fertile. So I began gathering eggs for the first incubation. How it turned out, you already know. I was hoping it was my old incubator that I used for the first time and had several hiccups with humidity and other various issues in the first 4 days of incubation, before buying a more expensive one. This second batch was started in this brand new incubator and the result is the same.

And I am left clueless as to what can be the issue? I collected the eggs always extremely fresh, an hour sometimes even sooner after they were laid and they were always absolutely clean. I did my best with the egg storage - I had the eggs wrapped in plastic wrap, turned upside down, stored at temperature around 19-20 degrees Celsius and was turning them 3-4 times a day. The oldest eggs were 8 days old.

The incubator had optimal temperature and humidity, turning was set every 20 minutes.

To me, everything seemed on spot, so why is this happening? Why are the eggs not developing? I took photos of egg yolks from eggs that were laid yesterday, I am attaching them below - are they not fertile? The ones from the first batch were identified by experienced users as 100% fertile, so I really don't understand what is happening here...

Throwing another batch of beautiful eggs away is breaking my heart - they took so much effort with them and to see all of it go to waste.. And incubator running 7 days straight unnecessarily..

 

[abenardini]

Hi there, I just candled my second batch of eggs on their 7th day - had 13 of them in the incubator - all turned out to be void of any development. Same happened with my previous batch of 12 eggs, candled at day 10.

To give you a bit of a background - I introduced a new 2 year old rooster to my small flock of 3 hens in March. My hens are ex-battery rescues, hybrids - most probably isabrown and lohman brown. Only two of them lay eggs, the third one has chronic health issues that made her stop laying.

The rooster quickly assimilated and just out of curiosity, I checked the egg yolks a week later. I posted photos of them here in another thread and they were confirmed by multiple people as fertile. So I began gathering eggs for the first incubation. How it turned out, you already know. I was hoping it was my old incubator that I used for the first time and had several hiccups with humidity and other various issues in the first 4 days of incubation, before buying a more expensive one. This second batch was started in this brand new incubator and the result is the same.

And I am left clueless as to what can be the issue? I collected the eggs always extremely fresh, an hour sometimes even sooner after they were laid and they were always absolutely clean. I did my best with the egg storage - I had the eggs wrapped in plastic wrap, turned upside down, stored at temperature around 19-20 degrees Celsius and was turning them 3-4 times a day. The oldest eggs were 8 days old.

The incubator had optimal temperature and humidity, turning was set every 20 minutes.

To me, everything seemed on spot, so why is this happening? Why are the eggs not developing? I took photos of egg yolks from eggs that were laid yesterday, I am attaching them below - are they not fertile? The ones from the first batch were identified by experienced users as 100% fertile, so I really don't understand what is happening here...

Throwing another batch of beautiful eggs away is breaking my heart - they took so much effort with them and to see all of it go to waste.. And incubator running 7 days straight unnecessarily..

I'm so sorry to hear about your eggs not developing. The ambient temperature might be fluctuating too much prior to egg development.

The first egg looks infertile to me, while the second looks fertile (but I am not an expert with identifying fertile vs infertile other than knowing there should be a bullseye). If others weigh in and agree the eggs appear to be fertile, I had some thoughts:

I've always done my best to keep my fertilized eggs between 50-60 degrees prior to incubation when I'm waiting on a full clutch. If you are fluctuating into the possible lower 70s F (20.5C+, even if a bit lower) it might be the cause. I've never wrapped my fertile eggs in any kind of wrap but have stored them in egg crates with the pointy end facing down...I'm not sure that's really needed.

Couple other questions - what kind of incubator are you using? Are you relying on the built-in readers for temperature and humidity alone? If so, would recommend getting some inexpensive temperature/humidity monitors you can place inside the incubator. Even the most advanced incubators sometimes do need calibration. I'm wondering if that might be the issue because it sounds like you aren't even seeing any development around day 4-5. There should be visible veins at that time and by late day 4 into 5, a heartbeat. The incubator might be the cause.

Hopefully this helps a little!

 

[VlkStinu]

I'm so sorry to hear about your eggs not developing. The ambient temperature might be fluctuating too much prior to egg development.

The first egg looks infertile to me, while the second looks fertile (but I am not an expert with identifying fertile vs infertile other than knowing there should be a bullseye). If others weigh in and agree the eggs appear to be fertile, I had some thoughts:

I've always done my best to keep my fertilized eggs between 50-60 degrees prior to incubation when I'm waiting on a full clutch. If you are fluctuating into the possible lower 70s F (20.5C+, even if a bit lower) it might be the cause. I've never wrapped my fertile eggs in any kind of wrap but have stored them in egg crates with the pointy end facing down...I'm not sure that's really needed.

Couple other questions - what kind of incubator are you using? Are you relying on the built-in readers for temperature and humidity alone? If so, would recommend getting some inexpensive temperature/humidity monitors you can place inside the incubator. Even the most advanced incubators sometimes do need calibration. I'm wondering if that might be the issue because it sounds like you aren't even seeing any development around day 4-5. There should be visible veins at that time and by late day 4 into 5, a heartbeat. The incubator might be the cause.

Hopefully this helps a little!

Thank you for your reply!

The storage temperature was, unfortunately, fluctuating a bit - it didn't go lower than 18 degrees and higher than 21 and stayed mostly in the 19-20 range, but it wasn't 100% stable. I decided upon this type of storage after consulting the ideal storage technique with multiple BYC members in a thread I started before I began collecting the eggs. I initially wanted to store the eggs in the fridge, but others convinced me that storing at room temperature is a better choice. The wrapping in the plastic foil was recommended to me so that the eggs do not lose too much moisture during storage.

I am using a fully automatic incubator with automatic turning and humidity regulation. It's pretty well built and I was relying on the built-in readers but consulted the calibration with the manufacturer and they claimed it is not necessary in their experience.

That is correct, I am not seeing ANY development at all in any of the eggs, after 7-10 days. Not a single thing. This makes me skeptical about it being a problem of storage or incubator. I remember I tried to incubate a couple of eggs back in 2020 in an absolutely ridiculous toy incubator. It was more of an experiment, the humidity was most probably totally off (it didn't have a reader), the temperature too, I was hand turning the eggs just 4 times a day (!), I wasn't following any hygiene standards, the eggs were SHIPPED (god knows how old they were) and they were STILL DEVELOPING (they didn't hatch, but I could see movement and veins on day 7-10)! I find it extremely hard to believe that with the current setup, preparations, and precautions, that not even a single egg would show any sign of development. It seems impossible. There must be something I am not seeing - maybe the eggs are not fertile after all? What else could it be?

If storage would be a problem, why wouldn't the fresh eggs not even day old develop? They were laid the same day when I set the eggs, so there wasn't even any storage in effect. And even if there would be something slightly off with the readings, there is still some room in terms of temperature and humidity (it wouldn't be THAT way off) and I believe that at least one or two eggs or at least some would show something! Blood ring, dissolved veins, anything! I am really at loss here

 

[VlkStinu]

I will crack some fresh eggs laid today and post photos later on.

 

[Justso]

I can't believe the storage temperature would greatly affect your outcome. I have successfully incubated eggs I pulled it out of the refrigerator that were over a week old.
I suspect a fertility issue. We can look at images of what looks like a bullseye, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they are fertile.
Do you have anyone near you that has fertile eggs? Maybe test a few out from a different Rooster/ hen combo.

 

[VlkStinu]

I can't believe the storage temperature would greatly affect your outcome. I have successfully incubated eggs I pulled it out of the refrigerator that were over a week old.
I suspect a fertility issue. We can look at images of what looks like a bullseye, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they are fertile.
Do you have anyone near you that has fertile eggs? Maybe test a few out from a different Rooster/ hen combo.

Exactly my thoughts - that's why I mentioned my incubation attempt from 2 years ago that was very very far from ideal in terms of preparation and setting - and the eggs were developing regardless.

I haven't seen the rooster mate with the hens to this day, but then again, I am not watching my hens 24 hours a day, so what do I know. But I have not seen a single instance of them mating.

I really thought the shape of the germinal spot is bulletproof. I am looking at pictures online and all of the fertile ones look exactly like mine... They are supposed to be much larger than infertile and resemble a bullseye.

I could always get other fertile eggs from a local supplier, but that's not my intention. These hens are close to my heart and would really like to hatch their chicks - that's why I got the rooster in the first place. So I don't want to give up really, but at the same time, I don't know what to do... And I don't want to blindly keep trying and keep throwing out eggs...

 

[VlkStinu]

So here are today's egg yolks - the third one (with the large outer ring) is from a week ago.

 

[abenardini]

The idea of getting some third party eggs might be a good idea! I do still think it’s a good plan to have a secondary reader for humidity and temperature in case something goes amiss.

 

[Poultrybonkers]

If you want to see if hes mating them close them in for the night then open them up in the morning and watch. My males always mate right in the morning. To me those eggs dont look fertile

 

[DavidReaves]

This is just a thought, but should you be wrapping in plastic wrap? Is it possible that the fertilized zygote is suffocating? I don't think the eggs should be wrapped-- especially in something that blocks oxygen like plastic wrap.