Fresh eggs

[lilxera]

Sarurday 12/13/15 we found 7 fresh eggs my hen laid. She's been laying 1 egg everyday since then. (I've been writing the dates on them). I think it may too early to tell if they are fertile since I try looking (candleing) and don't seem to see anything. I was going to give it til this coming up Saturday to check again. In the mean time I have the eggs under a heat lamp. Now my questions are: If the eggs I have are not fertil am I still able to eat them if I have them under a heat lamp? And also should I even put them under a heat lamp or should I just let my hen lay on them? Last but not least how often are they suppose to lay on the eggs? Sorry for all the questions but I can't seem to find the answer in any of my books.

 

[lazy gardener]

Your eggs will not hatch without a broody hen or an incubator. They need very specific temperature and humidity in order to hatch. The hen would have to set on the eggs for 24 hours/day x 21 days (though she would get up daily for a few minutes to stretch her legs, get a bite to eat, and take care of potty business. You can't tell if an egg is fertile by candling, unless it has been incubated for about a week. You can crack an egg open, and inspect the yolk for the germinal disk, and that will tell you if it's fertile. Do you have a rooster? Have you seen him breeding your pullet? She's not broody, b/c she is still laying eggs! I'd suggest that you read: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101. You'll see that hatching eggs is a bit complicated. If you want to hatch eggs, I suggest that you read as much as possible before trying to hatch some. I wish you the best!

You can eat fertile eggs. To the untrained eye, they are no different than an infertile egg. But, I would never apply heat to an egg in an attempt to incubate it, and then eat it! Good way to get food poisoning IMO. So, either eat your eggs for breakfast, or collect them to hatch, after reading up on the techniques of incubation.

 

[mirandaleecon]

If you would like to find out if they are fertile, you could sacrifice one by cracking it open and looking for a bullseye on the yolk. If you do a google image search for "fertile egg" there should be plenty of examples for you to compare to.

As for hatching them, a heat lamp really won't be sufficient. You will need something to contain the heat and some way to regulate the temperature and humidity. You can build a simple incubator using a Styrofoam container, the heat lamp, and a thermostat.

If you have had them under a heat lamp for any amount of time, I would not suggest eating them. Bacteria thrive at around 98 degrees so they would be not be save to eat after being in that temperature range.

If you have a broody chicken (a chicken who is in the mood to have babies) then it is a great idea to let her hatch them, as long as you have a rooster. There really is no way to convince a chicken to be broody though and they do it whenever the mood strikes them. I have one that is in her third broody spell this year, one who was broody once, and 5 who have yet to go broody. If you really want chicks, your best bet is to get an incubator.

 

[mirandaleecon]

Oh and how long has she been laying? It's possible the first couple eggs may be fertilized, but the first few are usually way smaller than normal and could cause issues during development. There's also a higher chance of double yolks and some other egg issues that hens have before they get their pipes in working order. I would give it a month or two after she starts laying before you attempt to hatch any of her eggs, if she just started that is.

Also, it's a good idea to gather all of the eggs you want to incubate, store them somewhere cool/dry until you are ready to incubate and then put them all in at the same time...

 

[lilxera]

Thank you for the information. I've read some things about eggs before she started laying. But now she's laying I guess I need more information. My assumption is she's been laying for the past 9 days since I've noticed since Saturday that she had 7 eggs. And has layed one everyday since. So the eggs that I have under the heat lamp I should throw out? Or can I put them back in her nesting area? I don't have them directly under the heat lamp more surrounding the heat wave. Are there any books that anyone recommends? I'm horrible at searching on the Internet and I love to read.

 

[lazy gardener]

Yes, throw out the eggs under the lamp. Start with the site that I told you about, It's right in the learning center which is at tab bar at the top of this page.

 

[lilxera]

Thank you

 

[lazy gardener]

"The small flock poultry keeper" by Harvey Ussery.