Wow, What a sad dissappointment :(

[EweSheep]

If you really question about the fertility of the eggs or the quality of the chicks, what I did, was to email those buyers, lets say ten of them, to see how did it come out. Many of them would respond back saying oh its good or oh its bad.

MANY of the feedbacks are at the time of receiving the eggs, none broken, or packaged right, etc. but nothing will tell you if the end results having chicks or duds. That's the problem. If we got a hindsight about those feedbacks, at least we could do is to withhold the feedbacks until the chicks are two days old, count how many losses and how many were duds.

 

[Gypsy07]

Quote:
Since according to this thread you only starting incubating eggs a couple of weeks ago what eggs have you been checking and being able to tell if something is forming?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=444688

Looking at the OP's signature line, I'd assume s/he's been candling eggs from under the two broodies mentioned.

Most eBay sellers I've seen offering to replace infertile/undeveloping eggs usually put quite strict conditions on their guarantee. Some of them say the undeveloped eggs must be returned to them for inspection, probably to make sure unscrupulous people don't pretend to have had a bad hatch in order to scam some additional eggs for free. Most of them say any complaints of non-fertility before 7-10 days of incubation will not be entertained. Most of them expect you to have incubated the eggs for AT LEAST 7 days before you complain about them being no good. I think that's perfectly fair. If I gave/sold my eggs to someone to incubate and they complained they didn't develop then told me they'd cracked them open after just three days in the bator, I think I'd be quite angry really.

 

[sourland]

Hmm, the "fertile" neighbor's eggs didn't develop either? I'm thinking the e--bay seller deserves an apology.

 

[Chihuahuamom444]

I got some eggs from ebay for silkies and 5 out of 6 hatched under my little bantam hen, she was thrilled, ha

 

[deerman]

To crack eggs after the 2 days.....WRONG.

Very hard to tell on shipped eggs are fertile or not even after cracking them. X-Ray or the shipping.

 

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

If the eggs were going to develop, you would have seen veins and a tiny heartbeat or embryo after 50 hours. Eggs don't "make up time" later in the incubation process. If they are going to grow, they will. If not, they won't. I candle at 3 days and leave questionables in for an additional few days but have cracked them after 50+ hours as well and once found a developing baby

and many many times found an egg that could have just come from the fridge they were so undeveloped.

Good luck as it is a learning process, and don't feel bad if someone says something that hurts your feelings: it is admirable that you are asking for help and wanting to learn!

 

[Michigan Transplant]

This may be a stupid question but I was under the impression that you HAD to take the egg from under the hen and get it into an incubator for it to hatch. Is this not true? How many days (and I assume ) at room temperature can they be out before putting them in to the bator. Guess I have A LOT to learn. I am thinking about getting a bator and hatching some of my own (my chickens really) eggs and thought I would have to gather the eggs THAT DAY and get them into the incubator for them to be hatched. Is there more that I need to know. Anyone have an explanation from start to finish for Dummies? I have RIR and SC and know both have fertile eggs or so I am assuming since I have seen my RIR roo going after all the females. Just because the roo does a female does that mean it will be a fertile egg? So many questions and not enough knowledge I guess. Can someone PLEASE explain "sex" to me.

Guess I really do have a lot to learn. THANKS.

 

[gryeyes]

Fertile hatching eggs can be kept at cool temperatures for up to two weeks, but viability drops off after 7 days. They can even be refrigerated, if the temps aren't too cool. (Below 41-45 degrees.)

The way to check eggs for fertility is to open some and look for the "bulls-eye" on the egg; there are photos to help you ascertain if what you are seeing IS the bulls-eye on one of the "sticky" posts at the top of this forum.

If enough of your eggs are fertile, you can hope that those you select to hatch are also fertile.

It's best to gather your (hens') eggs until you have the number you wish to incubate. You want to put them into the incubator at the same time, not as they are laid each day. You want them to all start incubating at the same time so they hatch close to the same time.

 

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

Quote:
You can "hold" hatching eggs after gathering for (and some will disagree about length of time) between 7-10 days without affecting hatchability. You can take them directly from the hen after laying or wait a bit but if you wait, the eggs need to be kept at a cool temp (I usually hold between 50-60 degrees F) and turned a couple of times a day. Also, try to store them pointy end down. Many people, including myself, have even kept eggs in the fridge for a couple of weeks and let them get to room temp. and put them in the incubator and actually had some hatch. Mail-order eggs, however, tend to have a much lower hatch rate.

About fertility: the best number of hens per rooster to have maximum fertility of eggs is 10 or 12 hens to one rooster. Any more girls per boy means potentially lower fertility.

Good luck and happy hatching~

 

[Wifezilla]

Between shipping and weird weather this time of year, I wouldn't be roasting the seller just yet. I sent out some eggs in December and the hatches were lousy. The ones shipped in spring, summer and fall had an excellent hatch rate. If you get more eggs, wait a few weeks until night time temps are higher.