How do you know when eggs are fertile?

[muddipuppy]

All of you who sell eggs, can you tell me how you know when the eggs are fertile? Is it possible to tell without candling by the behavior of the hen or something like that?

 

[cluckcluck42]

Unfortunately, the only way to tell is to break open the eggs and look at the yolk. Let me try to find the thread that explains it perfectly, it has to do with a white dot in the yolk.

 

[muddipuppy]

There must be a way otherwise, when you send out a batch of eggs they could all be infertile? Is it just a guessing game?

 

[SunnyDawn]

From what I've read they take a bunch and crack open a few and if those are fertile they assume the rest are as well.

 

[They Call Me Pete]

Quote:
Put a rooster with no more than 10 hens and they'll be fertile for sure. Less hens it increases

 

[muddipuppy]

My friend has one hen and one rooster. all fertile, ya think?

 

[Tuffoldhen]

Only two ways to tell fertile eggs. Crack a few in a dish and look for the fertile bullseye or set a few in an incubator and check for growth at day 5 or 7 if you good at candling eggs.

 

[ranchhand]

Here's a thread with pics- when all else fails, check the FAQ and the Learning Center.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=16008

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
Maybe-hens and roos do not automatically breed! I have a RIR who lost her main roo a couple years ago- she now refuses all new roos.

ETA, that's a really bad balance, if the roo is breeding her- the recommended minimum is 10 hens to 1 roo.

 

[Slywoody]

Quote:

As long as i've been on this site, i wonder how many peeps actually figure that out.