How soon after my chicks start to lay will my egg be fertile?

[Maryallison]

I am excited that the time is coming for my chicks to start laying!

They are about 14 months right now. I have 2 Roos that are a month older and "they know what's going on"

So since the roos are already mounting the girls will my 1st eggs be fertile? I am just getting excited! Is there a way I know the eggs are fertile?

 

[dancingbear]

Well, I don't know about your eggs, but the hens' eggs....

Check out the sticky on how to tell fertile from infertile eggs at the top of this section. There are pics of the yolks, so you can see what the "bull's eye" looks like on a fertile egg. You'll have to break open the eggs to see this, of course. But once you're seeing fertile eggs all or most of the time, you can start hatching some, if you want.

Most recommend waiting until the hens have been laying for a little while, because new layers often have little abnormalities in the eggs. You'll have a better chance of a good hatch with healthy chicks, if you don't get in too big a hurry.

14 months seems a little slow (ok, very slow)for hens to start laying, what breed are they?

ETA: Did you mean to say 14 weeks? Expecting them to start around 20-ish weeks, or so?

 

[Akane]

Most likely the eggs will be fertile right away or within the first few. However the odds of them hatching is much lower than if you wait. Pullet eggs tend to be smaller and occasionally have some major problems. It's not uncommon for them to lay a lot of eggs missing parts from shells to yolks the first month and obviously those won't hatch. Many of the others will have more minor issues that could still cause problems. It would be best to wait a couple weeks until you are getting eggs of consistent quality before storing some for incubating.

 

[thecochincoop]

mine just started to lay and 2 days after AI they were fertile and they hatched fine. Not sure about your particular birds but I would wait 3 days and see.

 

[Maryallison]

HAHAHA dancingbear, yes I mean 14 weeks.

I have frizzles, silkies & japanese bantams.

 

[dancingbear]

Oh good, 'cos after I thought about it, I figured that was what you meant. Even my slowest developers never took that long!