I bought some eggs online from a BYC member. Put them in the bator and 28 days later I didn't get a single bird. This is my third time trying to hatch eggs. The first was quail (bought from ebay) and most of them hatched, the second I only had one baby chick hatch (bought from ebay) who died a week later and this time nothing. After the second time I went and bought a digital temp and humidity gauge and everything was where it was supposed to be. Auto turner did the turning work and I was excited to get some new baby chicks. Well on a whim I went outside and cracked them all open. They all looked like normal chicken eggs with the exception that they were very liquidy and the yolks fell apart. There was only one that had blood in it. My understanding, is that when eggs are fertilized, they have a blood spot in it. The eggs I get from some of my chicks have this blood spot and some don't. (I have 10 hens to 1 roo though). Am I correct in this thinking? If I am, then all but 1 egg wasn't even fertilized and I'm kind of upset about it. If I'm wrong well then what the heck went wrong! I'm seriously giving up on the hatching and just ordering baby chicks in the spring.
Quote:If they have been in the incubator for 28 days you won't be able to tell fertilization. Blood spots are not a sign of fertility. Its a bullseye on the yolk.
From what I understand a blood spot has nothing to do with fertility, it's a glitch in the egg laying process. I have no idea what happened with your latest hatch, but I can imagine how frustrating it must have been. Maybe if you can give some more details (what kind of incubator, what kind of eggs, temp and humidity levels, etc...) someone with more experience than me can help you figure out the problem.
It's possible that the shipping is the cause. Blood spots have nothing to do with fertility, and if the yolks are damaged, you won't be able to see the bullseye. Not sure how well you would see it after 28 days of incubation anyway. Sorry I couldn't help any more. Maybe when you get another shipment, you can crack one open to check fertility. That way you will know they were viable from the start.
I cracked open 5 eggs from my girl last week that looked "clear" I noticed all 5 had watery yolks and blood spots. I assumed they were bad, because the other eggs, same age had veins and big eyeballs staring back. I wish I could help you, as this is my first time dealing with eggs and peeps. Don't give up!
