How do you know

[corewassen87]

How do I know if my eggs have been fertilized by my rooster?

 

[DanEP]

If you'll do a search on this forum you will find pictures showing what to look for. Basically the little white dot on the yolk will change from just a dot to more of a bulls eye. Speckledhen has a good explanation including pictures.

 

[Drewnkat]

The usual way is to crack one or two open, and look for a "bull's-eye" shaped white spot on the yolk. All eggs will have a vaguely roundish white spot on the yolk, but the bullseye ring is the sign of a fertile egg.

Alternatively, if your hens lay eggs with pale shells, easy to candle, you can incubate some for 3 days and look for development.

Most people check for fertility by breaking a few eggs first, since it's easier to tell right away, and if the egg is infertile at least then you still have breakfast.

 

[corewassen87]

Thanks for the responses. I'm thinking about buying an incubator and attempting a small hatch of my own. Will I regret a small 3 egg incubator?

 

[Drewnkat]

If you are SURE you will never want to incubate more than 3 eggs at a time, go for it. If you think you may want to hatch more than 3 at a time, you may end up kicking yourself for spending money on a 3-egg unit when you could have something bigger. It's a personal decision only you can make!

But personally, I found incubating 13 so egg-citing that I now have 37 eggs in the incubator. I put 38 in there but I had one clear at day 7 when I checked air cells.

 

[lazy gardener]

Yes, you will absolutely regret buying a 3 egg incubator. You will kick yourself to the curb and back, and then smack yourself on the forehead just for good measure! Seriously, it takes no more effort to hatch 20 chicks than it does to hatch 3! And, even if you only plan to keep 3 chicks, you'll then have extras to sell! And given that your hatch rate is destined to be less than 100%, you may be faced with spending 21 days agonizing over those 3 little egglets, only to have just one hatch, and then find out that that one li'l babe is a roo!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Thanks for the responses. I'm thinking about buying an incubator and attempting a small hatch of my own. Will I regret a small 3 egg incubator?

Personally, I think you will. I would at LEAST go with a 7+. If you put three in and only one hatch you end up with a lone chick, which is a hard situation especially if you aren't in a season that it's easy to pick up a couple at the store. Plus, I have to tell you hatching is ADDICTIVE. Once you have had that first sucessful hatch, chicken math goes crazy. You can always put less eggs in a bigger incubator, if you want to start off small, but in a small one that is your limit.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Crack some eggs and examine the germinal disc - here is a great picture of what you are looking for:



Definitely invest in an incubator with a larger capacity.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Yes, you will absolutely regret buying a 3 egg incubator. You will kick yourself to the curb and back, and then smack yourself on the forehead just for good measure! Seriously, it takes no more effort to hatch 20 chicks than it does to hatch 3! And, even if you only plan to keep 3 chicks, you'll then have extras to sell! And given that your hatch rate is destined to be less than 100%, you may be faced with spending 21 days agonizing over those 3 little egglets, only to have just one hatch, and then find out that that one li'l babe is a roo!

lol That's one way to put it...

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Here are some more pics to help with fertilization as well: