Incubating eggs from old hens

[Rissa]

I have 14, 3 year old RIR hens and 1 mixed breed rooster. The hens lay very large eggs. Is is a good idea to try to incubate these eggs? Thanks. Rissa

 

[Ms.Frizzle]

1st yr eggs are the smallest and the most fertile. At 2 years, the eggs get larger, and fertility starts to decrease. You sould prolly monitor which eggs are from who, and crack a couple to check the seminal disc for fertility. The positive aspect about hatching eggs from older hens is that you're breeding from hardier hens that lived longer then ones that were more prone to disease or internal problems.

In general, you don't want to hatch abnormally large eggs because the chicks that hatch arn't the healthiest.