will my hens first eggs be fertile/ emergency egg incubation

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Wray mom

Wray mom

In the Brooder
7 Years
Jul 25, 2012
59
17
41
hi i have a pair i raised and not sure there breed was told they were sexlinks but after researching and the changes they have come into as adults im pretty sure they are not typical sexlink breeding cross. anyway the hen is not laying yet but should be anyday also he has suddenly started mating her so will the first ones she lays be fertile or does she have to lay awhile before they can hatch, any info is apreciated. if all else fails i will just candle them after a few days i guess. also i have a hen who laid 11 eggs and then went several dys without laying i assumed she would start sitting but never did well two days ago she broke her leg and totally abandoned them of course bless her heart, i have taken care to seperate her from the rooster and removed the eggs i have candles them and determined them fertile all but one. i have started incubation today but am wondering if they are to old seeing as they were in the nest a total of about 16 days since first one was laid. thanks for any help i can get im kinda new at this.
 
If you put them in the incubator as soon as your broody hen stopped sitting on them you should be fine.

If your rooster is already breeding your pullet then the eggs will probably be fertile. I would wait until the pullet is a little older to hatch our her eggs though. Pullet eggs are normally a lot smaller than an older hen, doesn't mean you can't hatch them - the chick might be a little cramped though, that being said I've hatched out pullet eggs before and the chicks hatched fine.
 
she never sat on them at all that i know of but one of them when i candled seemed to be moving slightly but all the rest looked faily immature but fertile from all the pics ive seen. so confused hope im doing the right thing. thanks so much for answering.
 
Ok... If she never sat on them, then there would be no development. What you are seeing is the egg yolk moving around. I'd do ahead and put them in the incubator and see what happens. Candle after 7 days, look for veins and a dark spot. If they've got development going on, leave them. If they don't remove them from the bator. Some hens are more inclined to sit when there is a clutch. Some are not. The fact that there were 11 eggs there really means nothing other than it was a safe place to lay eggs. She'd need to be actively sitting on them ALL DAY and really pithed off if you came near to her and touching her would leave pretty little chicken hickies... OUCH! Anyway... If you want a hen to hatch for you, get a silkie, or a bantam cochin.

About the pullet eggs. I'd wait till they are laying for a few weeks on a consistent basis and their eggs get to a normal size. Then go ahead. I have hatched out chicks, well I didn't, but a hen did, from pullet eggs. They were near to normal sized eggs, and figured they'd do. No problems. BUT I wouldn't use eggs that are obviously smaller than what the hen would produce when her egg production got into normal full swing.

OH, and there is an awesome thread on here that shows nearly day by day candling of incubating eggs. Great reference for a newbie chick incubator.

Welcome to BYC! Nice to have you here.
 
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from Alabama. Glad you joined us.
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Here's the post that has pictures of candled eggs: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...g-candling-pics-progression-though-incubation
Good luck with your chickens
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thank you for the advice i swear i dont think ive been such a nervous wrech since i was prego w my human babies lol. they are also my kids chickens too so i am hoping to have a decent hatch its been to avoid to much diapointment. neway thanks again so much you have all been so great.
 

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