Why won't my eggs hatch????

[farmergirl162]

I have a buff orpington that has been sitting for almost a month now, and it appears all the eggs we've tried have been infertile. I have a 2 year old Buff roo (Henry), 4 buff hens and 1 amberlink and 1 golden comet. Last year 3 of my buffs each hatched out a brood, with a 100% hatch rate. This year, when one turned broody, I candled her 11 eggs on day 9, and to my dismay saw no signs of development. I checked again 2 days later with the same result. I pulled all those and grabbed 4 fresh ones from the nest box and put those under her. Those, too, had nothing at 8 days. She's now sitting on 3 more fresh eggs - right from nest box to broody. This is day 6, and there is absolutely no development.

The first clutch I blamed on "old eggs." I had been holding out about 1 dozen eggs just for the broodiness, and kept them rotated so that none were more than 5-6 days old. The second time I left the broody box open and found her one afternoon sitting on eggs in the nest boxes, so I thought maybe the clutch went cold. But other than 10-15 minutes a day, she hasn't been off the eggs this time. I'm at a complete loss. All my hens have clearly been well serviced by Henry, and there is no question he has been dong his job with the ladies.

Any thoughts?

 

[gamebirdsonly]

Sounds like he is not fertile any more . You might have to get another Roo.

 

[loveourbirds]

I have a buff orpington that has been sitting for almost a month now, and it appears all the eggs we've tried have been infertile. I have a 2 year old Buff roo (Henry), 4 buff hens and 1 amberlink and 1 golden comet. Last year 3 of my buffs each hatched out a brood, with a 100% hatch rate. This year, when one turned broody, I candled her 11 eggs on day 9, and to my dismay saw no signs of development. I checked again 2 days later with the same result. I pulled all those and grabbed 4 fresh ones from the nest box and put those under her. Those, too, had nothing at 8 days. She's now sitting on 3 more fresh eggs - right from nest box to broody. This is day 6, and there is absolutely no development.

The first clutch I blamed on "old eggs." I had been holding out about 1 dozen eggs just for the broodiness, and kept them rotated so that none were more than 5-6 days old. The second time I left the broody box open and found her one afternoon sitting on eggs in the nest boxes, so I thought maybe the clutch went cold. But other than 10-15 minutes a day, she hasn't been off the eggs this time. I'm at a complete loss. All my hens have clearly been well serviced by Henry, and there is no question he has been dong his job with the ladies.

Any thoughts?

a few things could be a problem for you. I would start by candleing some eggs, if chicks have started to form your rooster is fertile. the cause of these not hatching could be age, lack of protein, age of hens, or nest cooling.

5-6 days old is not a problem at all, and you seem to have ruled out nest cooling.

if your birds are not free range, and your protein is under 16% this is probably it. as a breeder I typically run my roosters protein at 18-19% and hens at 16-18%. and 18% on pairs or trios caged together.

as hens get older the eggs do seem to get weaker (also as a rule of thumb more roosters hatch) here we don't use any hens over 3 years old, unless they are excellent or very rare.

hope this helps.

 

[farmergirl162]

So I did candle all the eggs, and there was no sign of development in any egg in any clutch. My first concern was dealing with my broody, who had been sitting for 3-1/2 weeks. I got some fertile eggs from a friend, and those have now hatched out, so Mama is happy.

My next concern is why no fertility? My roo is a very big (about 12 lbs!), very beautiful Buff who is supposedly about 2 years old. I got him off CragsList last spring, and he was supposed to be about 9 months old. As I said, I had three healthy broods last year with 100% hatch rate. There is no question he is doing his job, since all 6 of my hens have bare patches. Unfortunately, his favorite hen is the smallest Buff in the flock. I find it hard to believe he would just instantly go infertile. All my flock is free range on our 25 acre farm, and in addition to kitchen scraps and the compost piles, they have a ready supply of Layena, although they eat less of this in the summer when everything else is so available.

I hate to get rid of him, although I can easily rehome him. I've already made arrangements for this, but no I'm having second thoughts. I've separated him from the hens, and both he and the hens now seem lost.

Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[loveourbirds]

i had troubles with fertility when I fed purina layena. I cant swear to it being the feed, but its a similarity I have to point out. I have had roosters do great fertilizing one year, and not be fertile the next.

I don't recommend doing this often, but thow them a couple handfuls of dry cat food and see if that helps.