What the HE-two sticks am I looking at???

[cmom]

These pictures came from another thread but I don't remember which thread. I tried to take pictures with my camera but I just don't have a good enough camera to get a clear closeup.

Infertile egg.

Fertile egg

 

[MuskokaChick]

Thank you so much....so I cracked the eggs...all of them and 4 of them were definitly fertile...

I will let her keep the next group of eggs and see what happens. The probably is...she doesn't sit on them all the time.

 

[MuskokaChick]

Because my hens and roo was bought in an auction by my neighbour...and so I know nothing about them...other than they are silkies...I guess it is safe to say that my rooster is doing his job?

I cracked the eggs because during candling (oldest egg 11 days) I saw nothing...but when I cracked them open...I saw this...

A FERTILE EGG! I am going to date them next time.

 

[debilorrah]

Yes those are fertile!!

 

[Saltysteele]

you say the oldest egg is 11 days old. does that mean they have been sitting on it for 11 days, or it is 11 days, and they have been sitting on it for 3? the egg won't start developing until the hen has been sitting (brooding) on it for a period of time (not sure of the exact time, 24 hours? don't know).

for instance, some of the eggs i hatched in the incubator were a week or so old before i put them in the incubator. you don't start counting days until they are in the incubator, or the hen has gone broody and is sitting on them 24/7.

i say this, because it looks like it was starting to develop, but definitely not 11 day's worth of development.

also, my hens would occasionally sit on the eggs for a bit, but they weren't broody. when one of them went broody, she went broody and you couldn't pry her off with a crowbar

 

[MuskokaChick]

I guess I will just let her try again...

I am going to mark each egg with the date they were laid and just wait out the 21 days...

I read that Silkies will lay around 8 eggs and then sit, but she was sitting and still popping them out...she was up to 12...*shrug*

My daughters are upset I cracked them open...but I just see it as all part of the learning process...plus I didn't want them to be disappointed if nothing happened and the hens were sitting on egg duds. Now at least I know

Thanks for all your help!

Turning into an addict here...

 

[MuskokaChick]

Quote:
She laid the first egg 11 days ago, and has been sitting on them for only 4 days. She put her nest near the water and when I went to change her water she snapped at me...

I am so new to all of this..., so the incubation period of an egg does not start the day it's laid, but the days she sits on it full time?

She is on the nest in the morning when I open the doors, and most of the day, but then late afternoon she gets off and goes outside to eat grass and have a dust bath...then she goes back on them in the evening...so this is not going to work if she does that right?

Thanks!!!

 

[Saltysteele]

Quote:
right, the incubation does not start the day it's laid. this is a common misconception that has people all over grossed out that someone would eat a fertilized egg.

they think the flecks of blood that sometimes are present mean it is fertilized (heck, i did, until i did some research).

i don't know what the normal period of time for them to leave the nest, is. they say they get up once or twice to run out and get some food and water, but not for long. i don't watch mine 24/7, but i don't think she's leaving. i put food in front of her, but she won't eat it.

the reasoning is to allow the hen to lay a clutch of eggs, instead of laying one and sitting on that for 3 weeks.

my hen had been working on going broody for a while now (a week or so), i'd find her sitting in there, but she'd quickly run off. then one day - BAM! i opened the lid to the nest box and she didn't move; didn't even turn her head to look at me. glared at me out of the corner of her eye, pupils dilated, ready to fight.

i've heard eggs can stay viable for up to 2 weeks. the exact amount of time varies, depending on with whom you speak about it. our turkey eggs were up to a week and a half.

you can put some golf balls in her nest box for her to lay on, and she may get more and more broody (if she is not already) while you collect eggs to slip under her. i just quickly placed mine gently along side her (avoiding her razor attack beak), and they rolled right under. i've got 3 laying hens, and the nest box is one long box. since she went broody this past monday, i have gotten ZERO eggs, because i think she is rolling them under her, but she won't let me check. i kept them all locked in their run yesterday to see if maybe the other hens were laying elsewhere, but there were no eggs anywhere, leading me to believe my suspicions were correct.

you can leave them there, if she is not broody, hopefully she will. or, if you collect them, keep them in a cool area (55-60 is the suggested temp) for up to 2 weeks. we've heard to turn them every day, and we had good luck with that. keep the blunt end up.

hopefully for you, though, she is broody and will hatch you some baby silkies

 

[ICallMyselfCherie']

Everyone else seems to have answered all of your questions, except this one: Don't eat them after they've been incubating! Lots of oportunity for bacteria to brew . . . just like being in a petri dish . . . yuck . . .

 

[Alexander]

Let me help you out:

This is a fertile egg.See the white stain in the middle and a little to the left?