lots of eggs but all duds so far

[sasglm]

I have 2 hens and one male in my care, they are in their 2nd year and started laying eggs about 2mths ago. I put the first 6 in the incubator pointed side down and candled them at 10 days and 20 days and nothing but orange inside. at 34 days we cracked them all open and nothing.
I have been out there when the male is on top of one of the hen, so it looks like they have a chance to be fertile. I'm not sure which hen is laying the eggs or both. Usually one every 2 days shows up.
Now, a week ago, they started laying again. They lay the eggs not in the nesting box near the ground but in a area under the roof 6ft off the ground on bare plywood.
All the birds came from the same seller and were all about the same size, ~1 week old, so they are all the same age male and female.
I thought about taking 4-5 of the duds and putting them with the one or 2 recently laid and see if one will sit on them. I've been taking them within a day of laying and putting them in the incubator right off.
Any suggestions?
thanks
gary

 

[WVduckchick]

Have you verified the temperature of your incubator with a thermometer that has been verified for accuracy?

If the eggs aren't fertile, getting the girls to sit on them isn't going to make any difference. But you need to know if the incubator is the problem.

 

[sasglm]

yes, i verified with 2 different analog thermometers it's set for 99.9F

 

[KsKingBee]

Young birds are like teenagers, it takes time and experience to get the mechanics of trading down.

 

[Chicken Keith]

I have a fresh egg, IB, you're welcome to have--for free! But you have to drive the 8 hours to north Alabama to get it. I won't ship it in the mail, sorry.