How far along are my eggs??

[breannjensen]

My plymouth rock hen has been sitting on 5 eggs for at least a week, I'm not sure. I've been googling info, images, and videos to see if they are fertile. I've been using the toilet roll/flashlight/in the dark technique. Problem is they are brown eggs. All I can see is that the top of the eggs is darler than the bottom. No limbs or any formation and no webbing. Are these eggs fertile? And if so, how far along...

 

[LLee34]

You need a much more powerful light to see through those brown shells. Find a flashlight with super powerful led lights, turn of all other lights (in the closet works good) and make sure no light leaks between the egg-TP roll.

 

[Emmaxx]

I use the light on my phone (the camera flash one, not an app, not sure if it makes any difference) and it's the most powerful one I have found, although I've not tried on really dark eggs like yours! I'm sure even the darkest button quail eggs aren't really as thick as chicken eggs! Just be careful, mine gets really hot so be careful not to hold it there too long

 

[Kiki]

I have to ask....do you have a rooster?

Can you crack open some of your other eggs to check for a bulls eye.
Not the eggs she is sitting on but other eggs.

 

[LLee34]

You have no idea how many folks don't think a rooster is necessary. My daughter (a paramedic!!!) didn't know the answer. She was totally bored in Biology class, I guess, because the whole thing of plant sex and chicken sex was wayyyyy over her head...until we moved to our farm. DH once had her totally convinced that mosquito FISH come from eggs that mosquitoes lay in the water. We blew it when DH and I could not keep a straight face. I once was asked, while delivering several flats of Aruacana eggs to a local restaurant, if I "grew" those pretty eggs myself. I just smiled real big and "Yes, yes I did."

 

[Kiki]

I had someone last week (a man well in his 60s) tell me that his chickens didn't lay eggs because he didn't have a rooster.

I asked what he fed them.
He said straight corn. <<That is the reason they don't lay eggs...not because he doesn't have a rooster.

 

[CajunFeatherz]

I use a Magicfly egg candler I got on Amazon for $14 and it works even for my Rhode Island and Marans eggs (which are probably #6-7 in color). I candle at night whenever possible with all the lights off, and the candler is so bright against the darkness you can see everything.

Also, by day 7 you should see some vascularity, so if you absolutely can see zero vascularity even with a bright light, chances are they have either failed or were not fertile :/

Good luck!