Is this egg fertile?

[Anne-Marie S]

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

You’re quite welcome. To candle you need a bright light with a narrow beam. I just use my phone’s torch. Go into a very dark room and lay your egg on top of the light, you may need to cup your hand around the egg depending on what your light source is.

You can try it out with the eggs you’ve been saving now if you want to practice. You should be able to see dots and spots in the shell that you won’t see under normal light, and you’ll see the shadow the yolk makes and an air sac at the blunt end of the egg.

It’s always a good idea to candle eggs before putting them under the hen, you can check for cracks then.

 

[Anne-Marie S]

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.

Thank you @MottsHomestead for jumping on and helping out. You give great advice

 

[Dreamzchaser]

@Anne-Marie S ok, now you lost me the phone torch,lol I have a note 10+ android and only has a flashlight,lol

I will need to buy a flashlight tomorrow once I get back from my 6hr trip to my doctor.
I have never done this. My Sebright went broody 4 times before she was a year d. Now she and her sister have a Cubalayan roo. No other 9 hens want him at all so they are separated. Now her sister went broody twice after the roo but did not let her keep the eggs. So this one I call Lil mama, got broody and so determined that I thought I would get ceramic peeps,lol Spoke to hub and we decided to let nature do its wonder. They sweet and never peck at me when broody and I check for eggs. None of my girls do. So, she has not laid any eggs in a week. Her sister has 3 and I put them under her today and took the ceramic egg out. Hope I can help her do this right.

 

[MottsHomestead]

Thank you @MottsHomestead for jumping on and helping out. You give great advice

Of course!

 

[Anne-Marie S]

@Anne-Marie S ok, now you lost me the phone torch,lol I have a note 10+ android and only has a flashlight,lol

I will need to buy a flashlight tomorrow once I get back from my 6hr trip to my doctor.
I have never done this. My Sebright went broody 4 times before she was a year d. Now she and her sister have a Cubalayan roo. No other 9 hens want him at all so they are separated. Now her sister went broody twice after the roo but did not let her keep the eggs. So this one I call Lil mama, got broody and so determined that I thought I would get ceramic peeps,lol Spoke to hub and we decided to let nature do its wonder. They sweet and never peck at me when broody and I check for eggs. None of my girls do. So, she has not laid any eggs in a week. Her sister has 3 and I put them under her today and took the ceramic egg out. Hope I can help her do this right.

Lol it’s great seeing someone that isn’t me getting all curious and excited and worried all at the same time, I’m not alone yay!!

By sounds of it, I’d say you’ve got fertilised eggs on your counter. If it were me, I’d candle them (cracks and other abnormalities) and set them under your hen.

The flashlight on your phone is what I meant, sorry. I’m Aussie and half of us call it “torch”, I didn’t stop and think, my bad. No need to buy anything, just use the phone.

After she has sat on them a few days, candle again, at night is best. Take away any unfertilised eggs and early quitters and let nature take its course.

I’d candle again on day 14, just in case any have died, they’re called “quitters” if you want to do some searches here.

 

[Dreamzchaser]

@Anne-Marie S Aussie! Thank you mate! Always wanted to say that,lol
My favorite artists are from Australia. 4K&Country.
Will head out tonight to just kill my curiosity and do it again on day 5? The oldest egg is from the 10th of June. I want to get all the dates right.

I'm gonna be a grandma!

 

[Anne-Marie S]

@Anne-Marie S Aussie! Thank you mate! Always wanted to say that,lol
My favorite artists are from Australia. 4K&Country.
Will head out tonight to just kill my curiosity and do it again on day 5? The oldest egg is from the 10th of June. I want to get all the dates right.

I'm gonna be a grandma!

Hahaha love the accent lol.

Yes, put the eggs against the phone’s flashlight and check for cracks in shell, sometimes you can’t see a crack without candling, and check for detached air sacs. If everything looks good, put them under her and candle again in 5 days. You’ve got it right .

I’m wondering though about the oldest egg being laid only a few days ago. Normally a hen will lay more than that before going broody and she stops laying. How many eggs do you have?

 

[Dreamzchaser]

Hahaha love the accent lol.

Yes, put the eggs against the phone’s flashlight and check for cracks in shell, sometimes you can’t see a crack without candling, and check for detached air sacs. If everything looks good, put them under her and candle again in 5 days. You’ve got it right .

I’m wondering though about the oldest egg being laid only a few days ago. Normally a hen will lay more than that before going broody and she stops laying. How many eggs do you have?

I had an accent,lol anyways, could not wait longer since I have to get up at 3am for my travel went and exchanged the eggs with the ceramic one,lol she is so sweet.
Hope I got this right.Hub laid the sideways on his cell while I took the pictures.
Here are 2 pics of June 10th egg.


These are from June 11th egg.


These are from June 13th egg.


She stopped laying and I ate them,lol Her sister whom I call baby mama because she is smaller is the one having her rendezvous with Pitbull (roo) all by herself,lol Hub is disappointed we saw nothing like your video which I showed him but I still put them back under a rainstorm and should check on the 18th? Is it 5 days after laid or 5 days from being under her? I know that God is the God of creation, so if it is to be, it will be. This is kind of exciting!

 

[Anne-Marie S]

Hehe yeah, it is eggciting! It looks like you’ve got the candling down pat well done. The pics are fuzzy but I can see they all look good for putting under her.

It’s easier if you lay the phone down (I use a nice soft bed in case I drop an egg) with the flashlight facing up and lay the egg on top. Just a tip.

Baby Mama will be laying fertilised eggs sooner rather than later too, but if your placing eggs under the broody hen now then it’s a very bad idea to add more later. Broody will just keep sitting until the new eggs hatch and it could kill both her and the chicks that have already hatched.

The day count starts from the day of incubation, so if you put eggs under her tonight then tomorrow will be day 1.

Day 18 is “lockdown”, whether in the nest or in an incubator. Mama hen probably won’t leave the nest at all during the last 3 days. Day 20 should see the chicks pipping, you may be able to hear them chirping. Day 21 they should hatch. Under no circumstances should you touch the eggs or mama hen from day 18 to hatch unless it’s an emergency.

It may be a good idea to have an incubator and brooder as backup, sometimes first time mothers aren’t very knowledgeable and aren’t up to the task. Even older hens give up on eggs halfway through. You could use a box and a lamp if need be. That’s a lot of information that you’ll need, too much for this thread, but you’re always welcome to ask the community or drop me a message if it comes to that.

You won’t see any development in the egg until it’s incubated, so day 5 is after putting eggs under the hen. On the 18th you’ll see something that looks a bit like a daddy long legs spider when candled, you should see something like on my vid on the 19th. (Assuming you put eggs under her at night, I don’t know what time it is where you are).

And something VERY important to remember. If something goes wrong DON’T give up hope. This won’t be the last time your hen goes broody and she is learning. As long as you have a roo with your girls there WILL be a next time. Be optimistic but prepared for bad news.

If you have any questions we’re here for you.

Good luck at the Dr.s tomorrow and good luck with the hatch.

Cheers mate

 

[Dreamzchaser]

Ri

Hehe yeah, it is eggciting! It looks like you’ve got the candling down pat well done. The pics are fuzzy but I can see they all look good for putting under her.

It’s easier if you lay the phone down (I use a nice soft bed in case I drop an egg) with the flashlight facing up and lay the egg on top. Just a tip.

Baby Mama will be laying fertilised eggs sooner rather than later too, but if your placing eggs under the broody hen now then it’s a very bad idea to add more later. Broody will just keep sitting until the new eggs hatch and it could kill both her and the chicks that have already hatched.

The day count starts from the day of incubation, so if you put eggs under her tonight then tomorrow will be day 1.

Day 18 is “lockdown”, whether in the nest or in an incubator. Mama hen probably won’t leave the nest at all during the last 3 days. Day 20 should see the chicks pipping, you may be able to hear them chirping. Day 21 they should hatch. Under no circumstances should you touch the eggs or mama hen from day 18 to hatch unless it’s an emergency.

It may be a good idea to have an incubator and brooder as backup, sometimes first time mothers aren’t very knowledgeable and aren’t up to the task. Even older hens give up on eggs halfway through. You could use a box and a lamp if need be. That’s a lot of information that you’ll need, too much for this thread, but you’re always welcome to ask the community or drop me a message if it comes to that.

You won’t see any development in the egg until it’s incubated, so day 5 is after putting eggs under the hen. On the 18th you’ll see something that looks a bit like a daddy long legs spider when candled, you should see something like on my vid on the 19th. (Assuming you put eggs under her at night, I don’t know what time it is where you are).

And something VERY important to remember. If something goes wrong DON’T give up hope. This won’t be the last time your hen goes broody and she is learning. As long as you have a roo with your girls there WILL be a next time. Be optimistic but prepared for bad news.

If you have any questions we’re here for you.

Good luck at the Dr.s tomorrow and good luck with the hatch.

Cheers mate

Right now t is 949pm. Thank you so much. I would love to go to Australia before I kick the leg lol Is those things you wish to do,lol Thank you so much. Hope I can get some sleep with all of this in my head,lol

This is a picture of the trio. Pitbull is my Cubalayan roo. Lil mama is the broody one and in the pic is the one with white tips on her tail feathers. Baby mama is the smallest and fully golden Laced sebright and the 3 eggs belong to her and Pitbull. Sometimes I make fun of them and call the Pitbull and his chihuahuas lol