question about fertility

[lagpmgdsls]

How do you (or can't you)...know whether an egg that didn;'t developed in the incubator is fertile or not fertile. Can fertile eggs just not developed for some reason?

 

[Stellar]

A fertile egg can not develop at times due to stress to the embryo, shipping, etc...You can open up an egg and if you see a donut in the yolk it means the egg was fertilized

I hope I am making sense.

 

[Stellar]

This was something someone sent to me when I was working with duck eggs. It's a basis for all eggs though.

 

[lagpmgdsls]

Thanks!

How big will the donut be in the yolk of a fertilized egg?

I am asking because my last hatch (the not so very good one) resulted in 27 hatched, 2 that quit fairly early on, 1 that was fully developed but very tiny....it was quite amazing actually to see it fully developed and so tiny...about an inch long if that.....and including that one another 7 that developed but didn't hatch. The rest of the eggs out of 82 did nothing. So I am wondering if I have a dud male who isn;'t doing his job.

 

[jenjscott]

I would ask where you live/what your temperatures have been. I the heat we've been having, the egg starts to incubate as soon as its laid. If they are not collected several times a day, you cannot save them up for a hatch. Some are too far advanced to store and then restart . At least that is what appears to be happening to mine. I can open the eggs and some of them have a developing disc. Some will break the yolk because the yolk is very fragile at this time.

 

[lagpmgdsls]

thats possible...I am in CT and it has been warm here. I try to collect the eggs soon after they are laid but of course this isn't always possible.

 

[shelleyd2008]

After the eggs have been incubated, the chances of seeing the 'bullseye' on the yolk are pretty slim. Usually, the yolk is so fragile that it will break when you open the egg.