Fertilizing Eggs

[Mrs. K]

Well you could put a non- breeder in the coop with him and the breeders. You can eat the non- breeder eggs, checking for fertility as you do so. When the mutt's eggs are fertile, you could be pretty sure the breeder's eggs are too.

Plans are lots of fun, but I will be danged if I can get any of my chicken plans to work out.

Mrs K

 

[JohnTheChickenMan]

Cage is 8' by 4' by 3'.

I will eat only Chantecler eggs for the next while, will allow me to monitor closely.

I only wish I had had three females to practice on when I was young.

You're not suggesting you can tell by eating the eggs if their fertile, are u?
You will have to incubate and candle to check for growth to tell if an egg is fertile or not

 

[JacinLarkwell]

You're not suggesting you can tell by eating the eggs if their fertile, are u?
You will have to incubate and candle to check for growth to tell if an egg is fertile or not

No you don't. Fertile eggs will have a white bullseye and unfertile eggs will only have a tiny white dot

 

[JohnTheChickenMan]

No you don't. Fertile eggs will have a white bullseye and unfertile eggs will only have a tiny white dot

I bet u have to have really good eyes! I'm going to have to try this out

 

[Ted Brown]

@JohnTheChickenMan @NatJ

The bullseye is not that hard to see, do have a look.

I still like the incubate and hatch method. Gets results more quickly and does not waste a fertile egg.

 

[Ted Brown]

I personally don't care if I end up with barnyard mix chicks; they seem to be more resilient, forage better and make for some interesting egg colors. Plus I can eat them if they don't work out.

I have 9 barnyard mixes that give me blue, green, pink, brown, speckled eggs. Hopefully Wilfred keeps that trait going.

The Chantecler was developed early 1900s over a ten year period by a Trappist monk who did his work in Hudson Quebec 100 kilometers from where I live. It is particularly well suited to Canadian winters, is dual purpose, 200 ish very light beige eggs per year, calm demeanor.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Fertility of eggs happens the day after mating. It could take two days. It's about how far the egg that's developing is that will be laid the next day. Once mated the hen will retain the sperm for up to a month. For perfect fertility the cock should be introduced to hens once or twice a week if you keep them separate.

With many hens, over ten, the cock bird has his favorites that are always fertile and the outliers that are mated less frequently. Depends on the virility of the cock and flock dynamics how many hens one cock can cover well.

I totally agree with what was said on page 1, pen up the best hens and cock and only collect those eggs for hatching. There is no need to hatch from lower quality birds.

 

[Ted Brown]

...

I totally agree with what was said on page 1, pen up the best hens and cock and only collect those eggs for hatching. There is no need to hatch from lower quality birds.

Thank you great info/advice.

About 18 months ago I decided I wanted to develop a Chantecler flock, I only had 3 hens and had to find/get a roo. I will hatch from what I have but will learn to be more selective.

 

[LAYAM]

Only one week after we added a Muscovy Drake to our tiny Scovy duck flock in mid December, we collected some eggs for incubation to check for fertility which we were able to confirm!

We did not have a Drake prior thus are absolutely certain that these are his progeny!

 

[NatJ]

@JohnTheChickenMan @NatJ

The bullseye is not that hard to see, do have a look.

I still like the incubate and hatch method. Gets results more quickly and does not waste a fertile egg.

I have looked for the bullseye, and I just can't see the difference between fertile and infertile eggs. I have read descriptions and looked at photos. I have looked at eggs when the flock is all hens, with no rooster present for months. And I have looked at eggs when there is an active rooster and every egg that goes in the incubator is fertile. And I cannot reliably see a difference.

But I have no trouble seeing the embryo when I candle at 4+ days of incubation, so that works better for me. (After only 4-5 days, the clear eggs are probably safe to eat. Since I have only incubated eggs when I had a surplus, I have cooked the clears for the dogs and chickens to eat, rather than eating them myself. But I'm keeping it in mind in case I ever have an egg shortage at incubation time.)

For people who can see the difference, checking the eggs you would eat anyway is a great way to check fertility-- it just doesn't work for me.