First time with my chickens laying eggs, now trying to hatch them

[christina_ski]

Hey yall,

I got some mixed bantams from Atwoods back in Sept. They are starting to lay now (I have gotten 2 eggs so far) So now I have lots of questions!

1. How long do I wait until I start keeping the eggs for hatching, I am not sure which chicken is laying. But she has layed every other day nice, smooth healthy looking eggs (I cracked open the first one and it looked perfect on the inside)

2. How long do I need to incubate or set the egg out to know whether its fertile or not? I know my rooster is mating my hens, so theres a shot if he knows what he's doing their fertile.

3. I bought a Hova-Bator, its my first time trying to incubate so anyone farmiliar with this or any model tips would be appreciated!

4. Is it worth buying the automatic egg turner?

5. Any other advice! lol

I have a Mille Fluer OEG rooster, a silver duckwing OEG hen, a silver birchen OEG hen, a blue booted hen, red booted hen, a tan brahma hen, and a red frizzle hen, all bantams. I think the brahma is the one laying.

Thanks!
Christina

 

[ljf24]

Hi!
After 4 or 5 days of incubation you should be able to see blood veins running through the egg. If not then more than likely they are not fertile.
I am not to familiar with the hova-bator so hopefully someone else can give you advice about that.
As for the automatic egg turner, it can really take some stress off of you. Before I had one, I was constantly worrying about turning my eggs and it's a real pain when you have a large group off eggs.

 

[fivestring]

You can check fertilization by opening up some of those eggs for breakfast. But before you scramble 'em, look at the yolk and compare to these pictures......

pictures of eggs fertilized