are they fertile? they are sharing eggs.


The Classroom @ The Coop: Incubation/Raising Chicks: are they fertile? they are sharing eggs.
By
cheryl montilluer rodriquez (Jcsm4) on Wednesday, April 24, 2002 - 06:44 pm:

I hve a golden lace seabrite,and a partridge cochin Bantams sitting. The seabrtie started sitting first with 11 eggs she had taken over.(I have 4 bantam hens). a week later the cochin wanted to sit too. So when the seabrite left to eat and drink she would take over. Now they have seemed to split the eggs between the two and are both sitting on them. Is this normal?I also have 3 bantam roosters, whats the possibility that some eggs are fertile??As you can tell this is my first clutch:-)


By Rokimoto on Wednesday, April 24, 2002 - 07:38 pm:

There is a very good chance that they are fertile if the roosters are with the hens.

Mark the eggs with a marking pen and remove any freshly laid eggs from under the hens every day. If you let other hens keep laying eggs in the nest you will have a lot of underdeveloped embryos when the hens get off the nest with the first chicks that hatch. Some hens will keep to the nest until the chicks have hatched, but this is a bad thing if some eggs were laid a week after the hens began to set. The chicks that have already hatched suffer. They need to eat within 3 days of hatching.


By OrpicaunaJo on Thursday, April 25, 2002 - 10:34 pm:

I always found that letting Mother Nature take its course usually yields good results! My vote is for letting the hens swing shifts on hatching eggs, although I've never had hens do this!


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