That long... really?

[Paganbird]

I guess I didn't think much about it at the time. I wish I would have collected more eggs for the incubator AFTER we lost Betty.
Sometimes you don't realize how much something means to you until it's gone... we lost 10 chickens in all to a predator. Problem's taken care of now, but it still makes me angry and upset. My neighbor lost ALL of his chickens - ALL OF THEM!!!
We're going in together on some layer peeps arriving in June.
Anyone else have any hen fertility info?

 

[Intheswamp]

Well, there's one way to figure out if you still have some fertile eggs....gather eggs for a few days, set them in the incubator, and see what happens!

Best wishes!
Ed

 

[dancingbear]

Check this out, if you haven't seen it already:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=16008
There are photos of fertile/infertile eggs. The germ disc in an infertile egg is just a little white dot. A fertile egg shows a bigger dot, with a ring around it. Pretty easy to see, easy to tell the diff, once you know what to look for.

If you are eating eggs from your hens, look at the yolks when you break them open. If you have rings around the dot, your hens are still fertile. If they don't, they're not.

I'd thought that sticky was under this section, since fertility is directly related to incubating and hatching, but it's not. It's under "Egg laying and Behaviors". Go figure.

 

[Paganbird]

Thanks! Everyone here seems so helpful!! I wish I would have known that 3 weeks ago... ah well, I still have my one healthy chick!
The one in the egg stopped peeping and moving & never did pip. I am going to leave the last 4 eggs in the bator for another 24hrs - just in case. Today is day 23.
I am just grateful that I got one chick. I may be slightly biased, but I do believe it is the most absolutey adorable chick ever! (I hope it's a roo!)