So, I've been trying to find out more about whether you can see the bullseye around the germal disk after the eggs have been incubated and this is what I've found so far, they are not peer reviewed scientific articles, but:
ThePoultrySite.com: "Fertility can also be assessed in eggs candled clear between 10 and 14 days of incubation. It is not advisable to try and assess fertility on eggs candled any later than this because post mortem degeneration of the embryo makes it difficult to distinguish infertile eggs from those with very early embryonic development." (THIS ONE HAS PICTURES!!!)
MotherEarthNews: "When cracked open upon completion of incubation, you can see by close visual inspection that these nonviable eggs were fertile and became nonviable from exposure to extreme conditions."
MyPetChicken:"It is not possible to see the fertilized blastodisc, or blastoderm, on the yolk of the egg after 21 days of incubation, as it will have deteriorated by then."
FinchInfo.com: "In most cases, early embryonic death cannot be visualized by candling of the egg. Instead, an egg necropsy should be performed to determine if the egg was infertile or if it in fact suffered from early embryonic death. The presence of a white blastodisc is indicative of an infertile egg, whereas the presence of a blastoderm and/or a blood ring (as pictured to the right) is indicative of early embryonic death. Your avian veterinarian should be able to perform the necropsy at your request." (finch eggs, so different species)
I think
I'm going to assume after reading a couple articles that you CAN indeed tell if a egg was fertilized after it has been incubated, as long as it is less than 14 days incubation. (Sorry Mother Earth News
) Since my eggs were under 14 days incubation, I'm pretty confident in my assessment that the three were indeed infertile, and the fourth probably was fertile.
@mlm Mike @BantyChooks @WVduckchick @Farmer Connie what do you guys think?
