Looking for fertile eggs!?

[Debbie292d]

Here's the Buy/Sell/Trade thread for hatching eggs you could check.

I've got to try ship some eggs the end of December/beginning of January, so will be watching the weather for 5-6 days above freezing. Fat chance of that so I might be incubating those myself.

I would look on eBay or Facebook poultry groups for anyone selling eggs south of you.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I have 7 I bought on amazon that were the guys last batch. All of them I can see veins and the dark spot. The two pictures came from my flock 19 days ago. Looks like I need to pitch them out. I have one roosted to 5 hens. But very slow laying its like 15 degrees here lately. Slow laying right now

A lot of people think hens quit laying because of the cold but it's really not that at all. Hens need 12 to 14 hours of daylight per day to trigger ovulation, so it's the shortened days of fall and winter that causes production to slow down or stop, not the drop in temperature.

I put lights in the coop to keep mine laying. I'm sure enough others do that too

Like you, Roses, I give my hens supplemental light during the shorter days of late fall and winter. I usually wait until everyone is done molting, then I turn a light on in their coop in the evening, to give them a total of 12 hours of light. I do it this way because I am NOT a morning person! So far I am getting 3 eggs a day out of my 15 one and two year olds, but I expect production to amp up shortly. I'm hoping my 15 pullets will also get the memo and start laying soon too, or at least my 6 (7?) BA pullets. I know my black Ameraucanas may not start laying until March or so, no matter what I do.

 

[Kung_pao]

Check Craigslist, there are normally people selling hatching eggs on there in our area. I’m south of kc about an hour.

 

[Ridgerunner]

HI, welcome to the forum! Glad you joined!

I live in missouri. Its a hard time of year to get eggs but what better place to ask? I am wanting some fertle rhode island reds or any egg layers. Any leads ?

I spent 11 years in Northwest Arkansas. I sometimes saw temperatures below zero Fahrenheit so I understand what temperatures you could be seeing. Every February I'd collect my own eggs to hatch when the days were shorter than 12 hours of light. I did not extend lights. I think your chances of getting local hatching eggs are fairly good.

1. Call your county extension officed and chat with them. There is a reasonable chance they will know of a potential source.

2. Find your state thread in the "Where am I? Where are you!" section of this forum and chat with your neighbors if the Missouri thread is active.

3. As mentioned above, go the the "Buy-Sell-Trade" section of this forum and place an ad. In the thread title include your location and what you want, something like "Want hatching eggs in Missouri".

4. Try Craigslist. Either look for sellers or place an ad.

5. Chat with the people at the feed store. They might know someone. Ask if they have a bulletin board where you could post an ad. Many feed stores have them.

This is all I can think of as a chance of getting local hatching eggs. You may not be able to get Rhode Island Red eggs but I think you have a decent chance of getting eggs from chickens that should lay well. Good luck!