Prevent hatching of fertile & edible eggs

[theatlantic88]

Bit of an odd question: I have ducks and chickens, in the near future I am going to have a top show quality flock of ducks and want to prevent people from hatching eggs that are sold for eating.

What methods have some of you tried to limit the success rate of hatchings for people like this? I know you can put them in the fridge for 3-4 weeks but lets be honest, my ducks lay an average of 1 dozen eggs a day and it doesn't feel right to refrigerate the eggs for that long of a period before selling to be eaten. I have read quite a bit about the best temperatures to keep fertile hatching eggs stored at for hatching and also know about that above 14 days of storage the hatch rate declines quite a bit.

I also know that I could separate the males so the eggs are not fertile but I am looking to find a happy median solution to my potential issue. I am going to great expense to obtain these birds and don't want someone else to benefit unfairly off the sale of edible eggs and then start hatching and selling them without my knowledge.

Any help is appreciated!

 

[AmericanMom]

Bit of an odd question: I have ducks and chickens, in the near future I am going to have a top show quality flock of ducks and want to prevent people from hatching eggs that are sold for eating.

What methods have some of you tried to limit the success rate of hatchings for people like this? I know you can put them in the fridge for 3-4 weeks but lets be honest, my ducks lay an average of 1 dozen eggs a day and it doesn't feel right to refrigerate the eggs for that long of a period before selling to be eaten. I have read quite a bit about the best temperatures to keep fertile hatching eggs stored at for hatching and also know about that above 14 days of storage the hatch rate declines quite a bit.

I also know that I could separate the males so the eggs are not fertile but I am looking to find a happy median solution to my potential issue. I am going to great expense to obtain these birds and don't want someone else to benefit unfairly off the sale of edible eggs and then start hatching and selling them without my knowledge.

Any help is appreciated!

My personal opinion aside, this question was posed not to long ago on a homesteader group I am part of and the best anyone could come up with was to remove the male from the females ensuring you have unfertile eggs for sale... Perhaps keep a few of your best breeders separate to use for hatching/selling..

I sell both fertile eggs for hatching and eating and I do not run ads together, personally, I don't care.. I doubt I will have a rush of folks knocking down my door to buy eating eggs and running home to see if they can incubate them.. Not everyone thinks they way many on BYC do

 

[theatlantic88]

Thanks for the feedback it is appreciated! I was thinking of doing something like what you mentioned, I am mainly going to be doing colour breeding so as long as the edible eggs are all mixed matched mating pairs then that would make sense.

I have had some people who know nothing about poultry want to try incubating eggs with a yogurt maker and other odd ideas. I inform them, no, thats a terrible idea but who says they wont try anyways..

 

[SeanaL]

I didnt know you could eat fertile eggs. That seems gross to me. Id say keep the males and females seperate.

 

[AmericanMom]

I didnt know you could eat fertile eggs. That seems gross to me. Id say keep the males and females seperate.

LOL.. Most of us backyard farmers have roosters with our hens, I gather eggs daily and the ones were are going to eat get washed and refrigerated. fertile or not matters very little except of course in our minds

 

[SeanaL]

True. It is the thought. Luckily I'll only be havibg hens so I wont have to worry. Lol

 

[theatlantic88]

LOL, from most backyard farmers that I know, their eggs are most likely fertile and they are sold for eating.

An interesting fact I found, most people think these types of eggs are fertile, but they aren't:

Can you eat eggs with blood spots?
Eggs with a visible blood spot on the yolk are safe for consumption. The spot can be removed with the tip of a knife. Blood or "meat" spots are occasionally found on an egg yolk. These tiny spots are not harmful and are caused by the rupture of a blood vessel during formation of the egg. Blood spots do not indicate a fertilized egg. Mass candling methods reveal most blood spots and those eggs are removed, but even with electronic spotters, it is impossible to catch all of them. If desired, the spot can be removed with the tip of a clean knife prior to cooking. These eggs are safe to eat.

 

[AmericanMom]

True. It is the thought. Luckily I'll only be havibg hens so I wont have to worry. Lol

Hey, nothing wrong with that, I have a friend that wont eat a fertile egg either... She has 50+ hens and when she needs more she just buys fertile eggs for her hens to set.. Boon for me tho because she lets me take any roosters I want, got myself a very nice Blue orpington .. He is only 6 months old but weighs in close to 9 pounds

Now although I don't mind eating a fertile egg, I also gather eggs several times a day, the thought of a fertile egg sitting in 80 degree or higher weather for very long makes me lose my appetite

 

[sdm111]

Is it worth it to u to risk having your blood ( duck type ) out to the public for the few dollars you'll make on eating eggs. I say destroy any fertile eggs from your expensive stock that you're not hatching.

 

[theatlantic88]

Problem is that I will only be doing 2 hatches a year (give or take) and I will have around 45 ducks. Which will produce 3 dozen eggs a day (90 a month). So I would be losing a lot of money just throwing out possibly fertile eggs.Sounds like I should just remove the males from the females altogether, but that sounds easier than it really is.