Fertilised egg?? No rooster..

[Kelseyn]

Are you sure someone's not playing a trick on you Sticking a fertile egg under your hens

I wish!! My coop is locked

 

[JaeG]

Here's another story similar to yours:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/bulls-eye-in-eggs-but-no-rooster.85297/

 

[Kelseyn]

Here's another story similar to yours:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/bulls-eye-in-eggs-but-no-rooster.85297/

Wow! Thank you so much

 

[kwhites634]

I wish!! My coop is locked

Maybe one of those Aussies

 

[Pyxis]

Since all three of your birds are clearly female, you've had them for 18 months and they've not been with a rooster for at least that long, and they have no way to get out and have a date with a rooster, then if the egg is really fertile, it would have been parthenogenesis.

Now, that's not really common, but reptiles can do it, turkeys can do it, and some chickens can too - namely the dark cornish breed is known for being able to do this. So, even though there is no way your hens mated with a rooster, there IS a slight chance that the eggs are actually fertile.

Might be fun if you could get an incubator and set some and see what happens However, with parthenogenesis, most eggs will not make it to hatch and do die before hatching.

 

[Kelseyn]

Since all three of your birds are clearly female, you've had them for 18 months and they've not been with a rooster for at least that long, and they have no way to get out and have a date with a rooster, then if the egg is really fertile, it would have been parthenogenesis.

Now, that's not really common, but reptiles can do it, turkeys can do it, and some chickens can too - namely the dark cornish breed is known for being able to do this. So, even though there is no way your hens mated with a rooster, there IS a slight chance that the eggs are actually fertile.

Might be fun if you could get an incubator and set some and see what happens However, with parthenogenesis, most eggs will not make it to hatch and do die before hatching.

I’ve learnt more in the last day than I have in a year about chickens

 

[kwhites634]

Afraid I can't agree with you on that. What about viable embryos that, for whatever reason, don't hatch?

 

[R2elk]

If the chicks that hatch from the eggs are all female then your hens are parthenogenesising themselves

In turkeys when parthenogenesis occurs, all of the poults that hatch are males. It would be the same thing if it happened in chickens.

 

[camochick96]

This is crazy! I have to see how this turns out!

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

In turkeys when parthenogenesis occurs, all of the poults that hatch are males. It would be the same thing if it happened in chickens.

Thank you for correcting me.