How to tell if freshly-laid eggs are fertile?

[Krichie82]

Thank you so much. This has just been worrying me to death. I came into these chickens when I moved into this rental and I've so enjoyed them. But the hens have started laying on my back porch, which is fine with me, but I have over twenty eggs out there right now and I don't want to just see them sit and rot. I think I'll mark the ones that are there now so that tomorrow I know which ones are new.

 

[Krichie82]

The final count is 29. I don't know when which eggs were laid when and the hens are only sitting on them occasionally so I doubt they're going to hatch and probably too old to eat. I wish I had thought to keep track from the beginning.

 

[bobbi-j]

If you have no idea when they were laid, you could just dispose of these - toss them, hard boil them and feed them back to the chickens or whatever - and start collecting tomorrow. Or, you can do the float test to see which ones may still be good. (Could someone help me out? I don't remember if it's the sinkers or the floaters that are still good. I think the sinkers...) Eggs are just fine without refrigeration, but I wouldn't eat them if they were out in the hot sun for days.

 

[Krichie82]

That's a good idea. I hadn't thought of that. I see a few of the hens sitting on the nest a few times a day (they're sharing responsibility, I guess) so I was hoping that some may hatch... but if they're not going to then I will use them to feed the girls.

 

[bobbi-j]

They need to be sitting almost continuously for eggs to hatch. A broody hen will leave the nest once a day or so, but otherwise will be on it. When your hens are on the nest, it's probably when they're laying.

 

[Krichie82]

Okay, I see now. I had read somewhere that a hen won't go broody until she's finished laying and that the eggs will stay "dormant", for lack of a better word, until she is ready to sit on them. Is this true?

 

[bobbi-j]

This is what I understand, yes.

 

[kittydoc]

Sperm are way too small to be seen with the naked eye, but as the photo of a fertilized yolk and the other link for how to tell fertile from infertile are very useful. To me, there is no point in incubating if you aren't sure the eggs (at least most of them) are fertile. This time of year, odds are good for fertility, but sometimes roos lose fertility, such as in last year's very cold weather, or with bigger breeds or size mis-matches, they may look like they are breeding but not getting vent-to-vent very well. For me, it's just better to know that you've got a good shot before getting your hopes up. On the other hand, 5-7 days isn't that long to incubate and verify--you have to do that anyway. There are some really good websites for that, too, but personal experience is the best teacher.

Here's one good link on BYC: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...g-candling-pics-progression-though-incubation

I made the world's cheapest candler and it works great. I put a 13 watt compact fluorescent bulb (60 watt equivalent, but much less hot--the head of a 60 W bulb can kill an embryo is you candle it too long) on the end of a plain socket, and then made a cone out of one of my daughter's old school folders. Dark blue, dark purple, or black will work. You make the small end of the cone big enough to set the wide end of the egg on it. It's best to do this is a completely dark room, like an interior bathroom, especially if the eggs are brown (even light brown). You can use a 13 W LED bulb, too, to avoid the heat issue.

Good luck to you!

 

[kittydoc]

I forgot to mention there is an easy test to determine whether an egg found in a nest of unknown age can be eaten. Place the egg in a large container of water that covers the egg by several inches. If the egg sinks to the bottom and stays there, it's safe to eat. Once they start floating, they are turning into stink bombs and you want to very gently put those in your trash! As long as at least one end or side of the egg is touching the bottom, it's OK to eat. They start tipping a little as they age, but as long as at least one end is all the way down, they're edible.

Here's a link: http://www.kitchensavvy.com/journal/2008/07/how-to-tell-if-eggs-are-fresh.html

 

[kittydoc]

A nice image about egg freshness.