Fertilization

[Pekin747]

I am having trouble getting all my eggs to hatch from a flock of my barn chicken I currently have 3 roosters and 12 hens
The roosters are not fighting so they arnt beening distracted from mating they where brought together so they had the leadership established young and it still remains the same
The hens are all different PB and crossed to get different colour eggs they arnt the friendliest but they will come around if u ha e feed or bread just no picking them up

I collected 20 of there eggs and put them in the incubater they where in the incubater for 25 days in total and I only 10 where fertile and 5 hatched

Now I know use might think I set the incubator was set wrong but I also set 20 bantam eggs and all bar 3 didnt hatch all where fertile

I'm just wondering if theres any way to improve the fertility rate and hatch rate of my barn chickens as I love hatching there blue and brown and white eggs but I can t afforded to try and hatch them if I cant get chicks in return



Btw the bantams and barn chickens live in similar places with same numbers except the bantams have 2 extra hens there drinker type of feed is all the same
Any advise use can give ne will be appreciated

 

[Wezdin]

Is it possible that 1 or 2 of you roos are shooting blanks? also, how old are the chickens?

 

[Mrs. K]

Keep a tally sheet on the counter, when you open eggs to cook with, mark down the color and if they are fertile or not. If they are not, or a very low percentage, you need new roosters. If there is a high percentage of eggs that are fertile, then I would look at the incubation process more closely.

MK

 

[Pekin747]

Keep a tally sheet on the counter, when you open eggs to cook with, mark down the color and if they are fertile or not. If they are not, or a very low percentage, you need new roosters. If there is a high percentage of eggs that are fertile, then I would look at the incubation process more closely.

MK

How do I tell if they are fertile

 

[Pekin747]

Is it possible that 1 or 2 of you roos are shooting blanks? also, how old are the chickens?

I dont think so I used to have them running with an older flock and I was getting 75 per cent of eggs to hatch that where fertile
They are all 1 year on the 10th of April

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

How do I tell if they are fertile

every egg has a small white spot on it, the germinal disc....in an unfertilized egg it is a plain white spot but in a fertilized egg the spot has a distinct "bullseye" appearance. Keep in mind you may have to turn or manipulate the yolk to find the disc

 

[Mrs. K]

google pictures of it, it can be tricky to see at first, but when you get some experience it is easy.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Fertile Egg Photos

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/16008/how-to-tell-a-fertile-vs-infertile-egg-pictures

This is a good thread for fertile egg photos.

 

[Ridgerunner]

These links may help you figure out what is wrong. I think that A&M article goes way overboard on some things but it is still a good reference.

Texas A&M Incubation site

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/...e-Cartwright-Incubating-and-hatching-eggs.pdf


Mississippi State Incubation Troubleshooting

http://extension.msstate.edu/content/trouble-shooting-failures-egg-incubation


Illinois Incubation troubleshooting

http://urbanext.illinois.edu/eggs/res24-00.html


The reason a fertile egg has a bull's eye is that the egg is developing after it was fertilized and is still at warm temperatures inside the hen's body. Once it leaves the warmth of the hen's body is really slows down developing to practically zero. So the bull's eye shows you that it was fertile when laid.

Just because an egg doesn't develop doesn't mean it wasn't fertile. The embryo of a fertilized egg is alive but it can be killed by different things, often how it is handled or stored. Too much heat or cold, cycling between warm and cool, shaking them, storing too long, just different things can cause the embryo to die. My guess is that these eggs and those bantam eggs were handled the same so it probably has something to do with the parents. But if you turn a blind eye to some possibilities you can miss some things.

I once got a similar hatch rate when i picked up 30 eggs and took them home over some really rough country roads without good padding. They were shaken so bad most never even started to develop. Think back, did you handle those eggs differently than the bantam eggs? Leave them in the sun where they got hot or where they could get really cold? You are there, I'm not.

How old are those hens? I regularly hatch pullet eggs and often get good hatch rates, but occasionally I get really horrible hatch rates with pullet eggs.

How many times have you tried to incubate their eggs? That is a horrible hatch rate but once isn't much of a data base. You could try a second time to see what happens if you haven't.

I know how frustrating that can be, 8 chicks out of 30 eggs I bought from a breeder then ruined driving them home!!! But don't give up yet.