Why don't my Rhode Island Red eggs hatch?!?

[FoggyFowl1719]

I have been keeping poultry for years. And I have always had great success with everything I have tried to hatch out. Button quail, cotournix quail, bantam chickens, standard chickens, ducks, turkeys, and more.

I only have 1 Rhode Island Red hen. She's in the same pen as the RIR rooster and 8 other hens. She lays a beautiful jumbo egg every day. And I know her eggs are fertilized because not only have I seen the rooster mount her several times, but every time I crack one of her eggs, it has the bullseye.

For some reason though, I have never been able to get any of her eggs to hatch. I candle about a week into incubation to see which eggs have embryos. 3 out of 4 times, hers don't. The ones that do make it are stumping me too. More than a few times after I call the hatch, I have found fully developed chicks that should have hatched but didn't. There's never any sign as to why either. They absorbed the yolk fully, no blood, no disease, nothing. I just can't figure it out. Any advice would be great .

 

[nuthatched]

It could be she has some sort of lethal gene that keeps the chicks from making it all the way.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

It's possible her eggs aren't viable. I've had 2 birds now that are that way. Rooster does his job, but no matter what, those eggs either never develop or rarely get past day 3 or 4

 

[FoggyFowl1719]

Can you tell me more about this lethal gene? I've never heard of it before.

It could be she has some sort of lethal gene that keeps the chicks from making it all the way.

 

[nuthatched]

Can you tell me more about this lethal gene? I've never heard of it before.

I don't know much about them. If you use the byc search bar, you can find more information about it.
since it's that hen specifically, there must be something genetically wrong that keeps the eggs from making it.

 

[FoggyFowl1719]

I don't know much about them. If you use the byc search bar, you can find more information about it.
since it's that hen specifically, there must be something genetically wrong that keeps the eggs from making it.

I was reading like you said. A lot of people are saying that RIR doesn't carry a lethal gene. And I've seen none of the symptoms that they described. One person suggested that the shells are just too thick.

 

[nuthatched]

I was reading like you said. A lot of people are saying that RIR doesn't carry a lethal gene. And I've seen none of the symptoms that they described. One person suggested that the shells are just too thick.

Lethal gene maybe the wrong terminology. some hens just lay eggs that can't hatch. Most chicks can get through eggshells ok, though super thick eggshells might be genetic and you wouldn't want to use her for breeding.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I was reading like you said. A lot of people are saying that RIR doesn't carry a lethal gene. And I've seen none of the symptoms that they described. One person suggested that the shells are just too thick.

The shell being too thick wouldn't prevent a chick from developing at all, I would think, just keep it from hatching

 

[Ridgerunner]

That's not any lethal gene I know of, the ones for frizzle or tufts. You should be able to see those. Those require the rooster to have that gene too and even then that should affect only 25% of the hatch.

One reason they give for not hatching pullet eggs is that sometimes pullets lay eggs with the shell so thick that the chick cannot hatch. A lot of things can be wrong with pullet eggs. It doesn't sound like she is a pullet but how thick are her shells compared to the eggs that do hatch? It is possible her shell gland is not working correctly and her shells are really thick.

When I have a problem I try to figure out if it is a flockwide problem or an individual chicken problem. Since the others hatch OK it is not a flockwide problem and you are not doing anything wrong. I don't know what it is but there is something wrong with that hen. Since there is something wrong with her I would not want to hatch her eggs and get those genetics in my flock.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Any advice would be great

Thing is if it's only one bird that eggs won't hatch from.. then her eggs are not viable.. she may have some absorption issue not allowing the right nutrients on board for hatching or other fertility issue.

Quite frankly.. it's a good reason NOT to hatch her eggs.

Though I agree it's not likely.. for informational purposes this quote on lethal genes was taken from the link that follows it..

"Lethal genes:​

Some genes are lethal. A dominant gene that is lethal when a bird has only one of that gene (heterozygous for that gene) is immediately taken out of the gene pool, since no bird survives with it. Some dominant genes are lethal only when the bird has two copies of the gene. The creeper gene, Cp and the ear tuft gene, Et, are lethal to a chicken with two copies (homozygous). I am aware of an exception to this in which someone claims to have a male with two ear tuft genes that has survived. This should be considered to be a rare exception. The short leg genes in other breeds are often lethal. Some traits, like frizzles and rumplessness are known to reduce hatchability but are not explicitly lethal."

https://cluckin.net/chicken-genetics-gene-table-and-breeding.html

Now check out my favorite incubation/hatching resource (and bookmark it if desired).. most likely possible causes of embryonic failure according to what day they quit starts around page 51..

https://www.hubbardbreeders.com/media/incubation_guideen__053407700_1525_26062017.pdf

Quick side note about fertility verses laying.. a bird can lay an egg and even get it fertilized but may never be viable.. such as in the case like when crossing Muscovy to any mallard derived duck.. the offspring are mules and female offspring will lay eggs but the eggs will not ever be viable. Not likely the cause or having anything to do with your RIR.. but overall still interesting..

https://www.mypetchicken.com/blogs/faqs/what-are-mule-ducks

Hope this helps you find some clues.