Eggs not developing - please help me figure out what's wrong

[NatJ]

It sounds to me like your eggs are all infertile.

I did my best with the egg storage - I had the eggs wrapped in plastic wrap, turned upside down, stored at temperature around 19-20 degrees Celsius and was turning them 3-4 times a day. The oldest eggs were 8 days old.

I would store the eggs small-end-down, with no plastic wrap.
I remember your previous thread. Given the specific temperature of your house and your refrigerator, I think you might have better luck storing eggs in the fridge.

But even if your eggs storage was awful, and even if your incubator was running at the wrong temperature and humidity, I would expect the freshest eggs to start some amount of developing before dying.

Since you have NO development at all, I think the fault must be with fertility.
If the eggs are not fertile in the first place, no amount of careful storage or proper incubation will ever produce a chick.

Hi there, I just candled my second batch of eggs on their 7th day - had 13 of them in the incubator - all turned out to be void of any development. Same happened with my previous batch of 12 eggs, candled at day 10.

Did you break the eggs open to be sure, before throwing them away?
It's just a way to be extra-sure that you were right at candling time.

I could always get other fertile eggs from a local supplier, but that's not my intention. These hens are close to my heart and would really like to hatch their chicks - that's why I got the rooster in the first place. So I don't want to give up really, but at the same time, I don't know what to do... And I don't want to blindly keep trying and keep throwing out eggs...

Since it's the hens that are really important to you, I would suggest you try a different rooster.

To reduce how many eggs are thrown away: you can incubate a smaller number of eggs each time you want to test (just the eggs from 2-3 days). When you have eggs that develop, then you can save up enough to do a bigger batch at once.

Hens are are fully fertile for only 3 years.Your hens are almost 4.

But some old hens do produce eggs that hatch. And most roosters mate often enough to be observed.

So if OP really wants chicks from these particular hens, and if the rooster is never observed mating, I think it makes sense to try a different rooster before giving up on the hens.

 

[McChooky]

That did cross my mind... Damn it... Do you think that might be the reason? So the egg yolk can appear as fertile but not develop due to the age of the hens?

The eggs only as healthy as the hen.If you've wormed them and fed them well and provided them everything they need they still won't perform like a regular hen.

 

[McChooky]

It sounds to me like your eggs are all infertile.


I would store the eggs small-end-down, with no plastic wrap.
I remember your previous thread. Given the specific temperature of your house and your refrigerator, I think you might have better luck storing eggs in the fridge.

But even if your eggs storage was awful, and even if your incubator was running at the wrong temperature and humidity, I would expect the freshest eggs to start some amount of developing before dying.

Since you have NO development at all, I think the fault must be with fertility.
If the eggs are not fertile in the first place, no amount of careful storage or proper incubation will ever produce a chick.


Did you break the eggs open to be sure, before throwing them away?
It's just a way to be extra-sure that you were right at candling time.


Since it's the hens that are really important to you, I would suggest you try a different rooster.

To reduce how many eggs are thrown away: you can incubate a smaller number of eggs each time you want to test (just the eggs from 2-3 days). When you have eggs that develop, then you can save up enough to do a bigger batch at once.


But some old hens do produce eggs that hatch. And most roosters mate often enough to be observed.

So if OP really wants chicks from these particular hens, and if the rooster is never observed mating, I think it makes sense to try a different rooster before giving up on the hens.

This is the first rooster her ex battery hens have ever been around. I suggested she use another hens eggs because I suspect they may be rejecting his sperm.If the op has not seen the hens submit or seen them mate theres no way of knowing how he treats the hens when mating without observing him.Some roosters have yanked hens out of the nesting box before to mate.An ex battery hen isn't going to react to a rooster being added like a normal hen.It takes much longer for them to accept them.

 

[VlkStinu]

It sounds to me like your eggs are all infertile.


I would store the eggs small-end-down, with no plastic wrap.
I remember your previous thread. Given the specific temperature of your house and your refrigerator, I think you might have better luck storing eggs in the fridge.

But even if your eggs storage was awful, and even if your incubator was running at the wrong temperature and humidity, I would expect the freshest eggs to start some amount of developing before dying.

Since you have NO development at all, I think the fault must be with fertility.
If the eggs are not fertile in the first place, no amount of careful storage or proper incubation will ever produce a chick.


Did you break the eggs open to be sure, before throwing them away?
It's just a way to be extra-sure that you were right at candling time.


Since it's the hens that are really important to you, I would suggest you try a different rooster.

To reduce how many eggs are thrown away: you can incubate a smaller number of eggs each time you want to test (just the eggs from 2-3 days). When you have eggs that develop, then you can save up enough to do a bigger batch at once.


But some old hens do produce eggs that hatch. And most roosters mate often enough to be observed.

So if OP really wants chicks from these particular hens, and if the rooster is never observed mating, I think it makes sense to try a different rooster before giving up on the hens.

Those were exactly my thoughts. I would see something at least in some eggs, especially in the fresh ones collected the same day or day before setting. But there is simply nothing at all. I did not break the eggs open - they really looked just as if they were not incubated and they all looked the same, so I didn't even try. I already incubated once 2 years ago, so I know what a developing egg should look like on day 7-10 - even failed developments. It just looks different.

Rooster is 2 years old - do you think that would be the problem? I can wake up really early tomorrow and see if he mates with them after the coop door opens.

But still, it all comes down to my original question - if fertility would be an issue, wouldn't that be visible on the egg yolks? Shouldn't the germinal spot be a bulletproof giveaway of whether the eggs are fertile or not?

 

[McChooky]

It sounds to me like your eggs are all infertile.


I would store the eggs small-end-down, with no plastic wrap.
I remember your previous thread. Given the specific temperature of your house and your refrigerator, I think you might have better luck storing eggs in the fridge.

But even if your eggs storage was awful, and even if your incubator was running at the wrong temperature and humidity, I would expect the freshest eggs to start some amount of developing before dying.

Since you have NO development at all, I think the fault must be with fertility.
If the eggs are not fertile in the first place, no amount of careful storage or proper incubation will ever produce a chick.


Did you break the eggs open to be sure, before throwing them away?
It's just a way to be extra-sure that you were right at candling time.


Since it's the hens that are really important to you, I would suggest you try a different rooster.

To reduce how many eggs are thrown away: you can incubate a smaller number of eggs each time you want to test (just the eggs from 2-3 days). When you have eggs that develop, then you can save up enough to do a bigger batch at once.


But some old hens do produce eggs that hatch. And most roosters mate often enough to be observed.

So if OP really wants chicks from these particular hens, and if the rooster is never observed mating, I think it makes sense to try a different rooster before giving up on the hens.

Will a 4 yr old ex battery hen thats never been around a rooster mate willingly? I recommend a camera be added to observe his behavior.Its a lot of stress on these 2 hens to be mated with another rooster.Noone can assume they're mating willingly.She only has 2 hens that lay.The 3rd doesn't lay.

 

[VlkStinu]

This is the first rooster her ex battery hens have ever been around. I suggested she use another hens eggs because I suspect they may be rejecting his sperm.If the op has not seen the hens submit or seen them mate theres no way of knowing how he treats the hens when mating without observing him.Some roosters have yanked hens out of the nesting box before to mate.An ex battery hen isn't going to react to a rooster being added like a normal hen.It takes much longer for them to accept them.

So maybe it just needs more time? After all, it has been just a month and a couple of days. Maybe I need to wait another month or so before they are fully bonded and the rooster mates with them regularly? They seem to get well off together, he seems to be fairly gentle and friendly towards them, same goes for the hens. They don't bear any marks of excessive mating or abuse. He chases them away from the feeder when I bring new feed, that's the only thing, but I guess that is normal with him being the alpha?

 

[NatJ]

But still, it all comes down to my original question - if fertility would be an issue, wouldn't that be visible on the egg yolks? Shouldn't the germinal spot be a bulletproof giveaway of whether the eggs are fertile or not?

Looking for a bullseye can be wrong sometimes.

@TheOddOneOut just recently posted a photo of an egg with a bullseye, from hens with absolutely no exposure to a rooster. So the egg could not possibly be fertile.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/fertilizing-eggs.1518202/page-7#post-25636705

 

[VlkStinu]

Will a 4 yr old ex battery hen thats never been around a rooster mate willingly? I recommend a camera be added to observe his behavior.Its a lot of stress on these 2 hens to be mated with another rooster.Noone can assume they're mating willingly.She only has 2 hens that lay.The 3rd doesn't lay.

As I said, I can try to get up before dawn tomorrow and observe them as they get out of the coop and see what happens. I've never done that before.

 

[McChooky]

So maybe it just needs more time? After all, it has been just a month and a couple of days. Maybe I need to wait another month or so before they are fully bonded and the rooster mates with them regularly? They seem to get well off together, he seems to be fairly gentle and friendly towards them, same goes for the hens. They don't bear any marks of excessive mating or abuse. He chases them away from the feeder when I bring new feed, that's the only thing, but I guess that is normal with him being the alpha?

No its not normal for them to run the hens off.They typically don't even eat until the hens eat.

 

[VlkStinu]

Looking for a bullseye can be wrong sometimes.

@TheOddOneOut just recently posted a photo of an egg with a bullseye, from hens with absolutely no exposure to a rooster. So the egg could not possibly be fertile.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/fertilizing-eggs.1518202/page-7#post-25636705

Oh, I see... Okay, so it is not a reliable sign... I thought it is bulletproof, damn it... Well, then I guess I just need to observe them and see if they mate... Maybe they didn't mate just yet since he is in the run with them for only a month and a couple of days.