Is this egg fertile?

[Anne-Marie S]

He's a looker.

Thank you. He’s a rescue and I’ve never regretted adopting him. I’m lucky to have a roo as well behaved as he is. All my “dookens” are rescues bar one, thus the mixed bag

 

[My Bagurks]

Have any of your hens gone broody?

 

[Anne-Marie S]

Have any of your hens gone broody?

Not as yet. I only adopted the latest batch of 6 hens last weekend, before that I had two Australorp hens, the bantam roo, a Silkie roo and what I bought as a pullet but looks to be more of a cockerel now. I wasn’t getting eggs before last weekend. I don’t blame the poor girls.

Currently building a second henhouse to separate the silkies into.

 

[Dreamzchaser]

How do I know if an egg is fertile? Have a constant broody hen and I think I should let her sit on eggs. I have collected them and left unwashed in my kitchen counter. Can I put them back to her? She lives with her sister and their partner.

 

[Anne-Marie S]

How do I know if an egg is fertile? Have a constant broody hen and I think I should let her sit on eggs. I have collected them and left unwashed in my kitchen counter. Can I put them back to her? She lives with her sister and their partner.

There are only two ways to know for sure. The first way is to crack open an egg and look for a bullseye. If there is a white spot with a white ring around it, it’s fertilised. If there is a white spot but no ring, it isn’t fertilised. I recommend cracking the second oldest egg in your collection because the first egg after your roo has mounted your girl may not be fertilised.

The second method is to incubate the eggs. After 5 days of incubation, candle them. If they’ve been fertilised you’ll see a black spot (the chick’s eye), a network of veins and some movement.

The first method may be better for you since you want to put eggs under her asap.

If you want, you can forego the entire brooding period. Your hen just wants babies, put eggs under her then during the night swap the eggs out for day old chicks if you have anywhere that sells day olds. Mama hen will think they’re hers and will leave the nest and care for the babies.

Good luck

 

[MottsHomestead]

How do I know if an egg is fertile? Have a constant broody hen and I think I should let her sit on eggs. I have collected them and left unwashed in my kitchen counter. Can I put them back to her? She lives with her sister and their partner.

If you have a rooster in there, more likely than not they are fertilized.

You can also crack an egg open and look for a bullseye, this is not foolproof however, as sometimes even unfertilized eggs will have one.

Personally, I’d just let her sit. If they’re fertilized you’ll likely see development if not chicks, unless something goes seriously wrong, and if at the end there has been no developement in any eggs, you can be pretty positive they were infertile.

 

[Dreamzchaser]

So after She sits for 21 days or so, if no chicks appear, I should tossed them out, right?

 

[MottsHomestead]

So after She sits for 21 days or so, if no chicks appear, I should tossed them out, right?

I would candle the eggs to determine if there is any movement. Nature isn’t perfect, sometimes it takes them a few extra days, but around 21 days, yes.

 

[Anne-Marie S]

So after She sits for 21 days or so, if no chicks appear, I should tossed them out, right?

Most people say not to candle until day 7, but if you candle on day 5 you will see significant development. It’ll look like a little grub wriggling around in a bunch of veins and have a big black spot. You can see development on day 3, but not much. Day 5 is better.

Don’t let her sit on eggs for 21 days if they aren’t fertilised, it could get messy.

Take an egg during the night and shine a bright light through it. Some people like to candle with the air sac (blunt end) facing the sky, but I prefer laying the egg on its side during the early stages. It’s easier to see through.

I’ve attached a quick 20 second vid of one of my eggs at day 5 so you can see what I mean about the movement. Quick YouTube vid here.

And because the camera wouldn’t focus for the video you can’t see the veins too well, so I attached a pic of the same egg.

 

[Dreamzchaser]

@Anne-Marie S thank you. Now I have to learn how to candle lol