Fertile eggs all blanks?

[dehill]

My my diligent broody silkie has been sitting on 6 fertile eggs for 9 days, but I think they’re all blanks! Just candled them, photos below, am I missing something?

Number 2 looks like it may have a shadow but no development of note.

Eggs were sourced on eBay. Thoughts?

The seller has offered to send me some replacements on Monday. By that time she’ll have been sitting for about 12 days - too long to start again?

 

[DobieLover]

You should see veins by now. What do you know about that seller? How many cock birds does he/she have covering the females? How often do they check eggs for fertility?
It's odd that not a single one developed.
Did you let the eggs settle for 24 hours before giving them to her?
I'd go ahead and give it a shot at letting her start a new clutch when you get the next batch but if they don't develop, I'd graft a trio of day old chicks to her.

 

[dehill]

The seller apparently had two cocks covering their “small flock” of girls. Fertility checked monthly at around 100% and very good feedback, so a bit of a mystery.

I know it’s always a risk buying online, but I tried to buy from the most reputable seller I could find.

I didn’t let them settle, as I’d read this was unnecessary. Does it really help?

To be fair the seller has been very reasonable (in my view) so I’ll give it a go. Thank you for your help!

 

[DobieLover]

I didn’t let them settle, as I’d read this was unnecessary. Does it really help?

I've only hatched shipped eggs once and was advised to let them settle for 24 hrs. 6 eggs were started in a friends incubator while I finished grafting my broody hen to the maternity nest. At 7 days all were developing and were transferred to the hen.
5 of the 6 hatched.

 

[TwistedTayy]

I’ve noticed that people blame sellers a lot for infertility with shipped eggs but the only way to check is to crack them open and look for a bullseye. I did this with shipped eggs that never developed after day 5, and after expecting them to be infertile, they were scrambled… this happens due to rough handling from usps. It would look like a normal blank egg at candle. Another option is severely detached air cells, I didn’t know to look for that at the beginning.

They could very well be infertile I just want to mention that it’s not the only explanation. USPS is a huge risk itself. I’ve had eggs from reputable breeders not develop due to rough handling.

Edited to say that letting them settle helps with detached air cells. Sometimes they will reattach after settling. It is very important with shipped eggs.

 

[dehill]

Thanks both - great advice and explanation.

The seller seems very reputable and fair. He suggest 23/25 of his recent batch have hatched so very possibly a handling error by the post. I’ll be sure to let the replacements settle and swap them in this week. Hoping for a better result!

 

[TwistedTayy]

Thanks both - great advice and explanation.

The seller seems very reputable and fair. He suggest 23/25 of his recent batch have hatched so very possibly a handling error by the post. I’ll be sure to let the replacements settle and swap them in this week. Hoping for a better result!

Keep us posted! Let them sit in an egg carton at a stable room temp (no drafts) for 24 hours and candle them before they go into the bator. You wanna look at the air cell, if it’s detached it will move like the air in a water bottle… but you want it to stay at the large end. If they are still detached keep checking them every 6-8 hours. When they stay put they are ready to go in. BUT there are ways to incubate upright (with the air cell detached) depending on your incubator. That way incubation has started and the air cell can reattach while that’s happening.

This is a good article on what I’m talking about.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hatching-shipped-eggs.75470/

I have a nurture right 360 and I bought this attachment for it for shipped eggs.
www.etsy.com/listing/1031647558

 

[Ridgerunner]

My my diligent broody silkie has been sitting on 6 fertile eggs for 9 days, but I think they’re all blanks! Just candled them, photos below, am I missing something?

I agree, the first thing you should see when candling is veins. Shadows and other things show up later. So they are blanks.

Eggs were sourced on eBay. Thoughts?

Different things could cause them to not develop. Some might have to do with the breeder, some with the shipping. I once got a horrible hatch rate because I shook the eggs up too much taking them home from the breeder, that was on me. 2/3 never started developing. It's not just shaking, yours may have been exposed to extreme temperatures, you never know. It's something neither you nor the breeder has control over.

The seller has offered to send me some replacements on Monday. By that time she’ll have been sitting for about 12 days - too long to start again?

I'd try. Before a hen even starts to lay she develops a lot of excess fat. I've butchered enough hens, pullets, roosters, and cockerels to see that difference. It can be a lot of excess fat. That's what a broody hen mostly lives on while she is incubating eggs. That way she can take care of the eggs instead of having to be out looking for food. She will lose weight while incubating but that's just fat put there for that reason.

Different hens will store different amounts of fat. Different hens come off the nest for different amounts of time to eat and drink. There is no absolute set time for how long they can stay broody and on a nest before they use up that fat, each hen will be different. Most hens will break from being broody when they use up all that fat. I arbitrarily set 5 weeks for a hen to incubate eggs as my limit. Most hens will make it past that. I consider 5 weeks of sitting on a nest to be really safe. A lot of hens will pass 6 weeks. I think you will be fine.

 

[samanthaoverton]

I know a good seller on eBay, very communicative. I got 2 out of my batch of 5. Which is pretty good considering I had them delivered to the house and not left at the post office.. 1 was cracked. One died mid incubation. And the other was developed but died before lock down. All her eggs were definitely fertile. And she was really nice. Bubble wrapped egg carton. Pixiesbees is the seller.