How long fertile?

[NellaBean]

I have a pullet who just started laying yesterday. I heard her singing the song when I left this morning, so expect another when I get home today. Her rooster went to the great barbeque grill in the sky on June 27th.

is there any possibility her eggs might be fertile? It has been 2.5 weeks. Considering she was not laying when she was last with him, would she even lay fertile eggs, starting now?

 

[Judy]

Unlikely. Eggs can stay fertile for up to 3 weeks but the fertility decreases over that period. If the rooster was the same age as her, they may not even have been mating.

If you want to try to decide if the egg is fertile, you can crack it and compare to this:

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

Or if you have a bator or broody, you could set them and see what happens.

 

[NellaBean]

I know he was trying........she was not very happy about it and I could hear it halfway across the yard and also witnessed it when I went out to see why she was squawking. He was an early bloomer and had been "at it" for a while by the time he "left".

The first egg from yesterday has a tiny pinprick and a crack, so I guess I can "sacrifice" it and see if I can tell.

thanks for the info, DDawn.

 

[jhm47]

Unless you're planning to incubate them, what difference does it make? 2.5 weeks is probably safe anyway.

 

[NellaBean]

I was considering incubating them........but don't want to buy an incubator unless they are fertile. I do plan on getting one later on, but dont want to buy it now unless I need to.