How To Tell If Your Eggs Are Fertile

We have a few local chicken keepers who keep trying to hatch their own eggs, but are having no success. The first thing to do is check if the eggs are fertile. You can do that a few ways. The simplest way of checking fertility is to crack open an egg from the hens and cockerel you’re planning on breeding from. You’ll only need to open 1 or 2 in the few days running up to your incubation.

When you crack open the egg, if it’s fertile, you’ll notice a small white spot on the top of the yolk about 4mm in width. This is called the germinal disc. This is what tells you if the egg has been fertilised. This disc is formed with a single cell from the female and a single sperm from the male. The female cell contains half the number of chromosomes and the male, the other half. After fertilisation of the two halves the resultant cell divides into two and these two cells grow and divide again until by the time the egg is laid, the mass of cells is visible as the germinal disc. During incubation, this mass of cells will further grow, divide and specialise to form the resultant chick, using the remainder of the egg contents as food. Below is an image of one of our Araucana eggs, you can clearly see the white spot in the top of the yolk, indicating that this egg was fertile.

You can also check the fertility of the egg during incubation. This is called candling the eggs. This step normally takes place during the 9th day of incubation. We use a Brinsea machine to candle the eggs.

This allows you to pop the egg on the stand, cover it over with the lid and look through the eye piece to see if there is any fertilisation and development of the egg. Below is a chart of what sort of development you are looking for at the different stages.

Incubator Vs Broody Hen

As we are entering the brooding/Hatching season, we wanted to post about the pro’s and con’s of hatching chicks with an incubator and hatching with a broody hen.

Pro’s to hatching chicks with broody hens

The really great thing about hens is that they go broody and then can hatch and look after their own chicks. Hens are completely self-sufficient with their chicks which makes it super easy for you.

One major bonus about using a broody hen is that they don't need a heat lamp. The hen generates her own heat to keep the chicks warm and they’ll cuddle right up inside her to keep warm.

Con’s to hatching chicks with broody hens

One big downfall about hatching with a broody is that it’s in natures hands and they are not always broody when you need them to be! They can also be quite vicious when it comes to handling. We’re currently putting together a new blog post on how to break a broody hen, watch this space for more information.
Broody hens are also not always reliable. They can get bored of sitting and just get off the nest and not come back, leaving the eggs to go cold. This is not to be confused for the bird getting off the nest for food and water.

Hens can also be destructive. Once in a while you can come across a hen that doesn’t know what they are doing. We had an instance where the hen sat until all the chicks hatched and then she unfortunately killed them all as she was a first time mum and didn’t quite know what she was doing. However, this is a rare occasion, but it does sometimes happen.

Pros to hatching with an incubator

In an incubator you have full control of how many eggs you can start to incubate. You also have control of when they will hatch. Hens can go broody at all sorts of times, and aren’t necessarily aware of the convenience for you.

When hatching chicks in an incubator you get to watch the process more closely. Chicks that are hatched in an incubator can generally be handled more easily because they don’t have a mother hen chasing them around. Some people argue that incubator chicks are more friendly as they are used to you being around and rely on you for food and water.

Cons to hatching with an incubator

Clearly hatching with an incubator means that you actually need an incubator and depending on the spec these can be quite pricey. You are also in control of the chicks. It’s up to you to decide when a hatch is finished and if you are to help a struggling chick (I always do, just because I’m a softie and can’t leave them to die) and these decisions are not always easy to make.

If you hatch chicks from an incubator your situation will be exactly like if you’d purchased the chicks. They will need heat, water and food. Your chicks will need to be kept separate from the rest of your flock until they are old enough that they would not be picked on.

Which way is best?

There are pros and cons to both hatching methods, but it’s entirely up to you and your set up and what you want to deal with.