Hatching Eggs

We receive a lot of emails regarding hatching eggs being fertile or not as the case maybe from disappointed Ebayer's that have bought hatching eggs from other suppliers. Below are a few pointers of why you maybe having poor success from sent eggs.

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When you receive your eggs don't be in a rush to place them in your incubator. Let them rest uncovered in the incubation room for a period of 24hrs, pointed end down. The eggs have had a tremendous strain put on them by the journey and if any are going to hatch they need to rest. Check them for any signs of damage and discard these eggs.

For your incubator to function correctly the room that it is placed in should be as stable as possible. By this we mean it should not fluctuate in temperature, or humidity. I know this is not always possible but to get the best chance of your eggs hatching this is what is required.

Remember that there is more to getting a chick from an egg than just putting it in an incubator for 21 days. People are very quick to blame the egg and not their skills in getting the best from their incubating method and equipment. To put it another way lets say you buy all the best ingredients to cook a wonderful meal like you see on the television. When yours doesn't look or taste as the one you have experienced do you blame the raw ingredients? Or is it that your culinary skills are not quite as good as they need to be?

Non Fertilised or Fertile  Eggs
This is an easy one to show and explain. It may sound obvious but you need a Cockerel to be present for your eggs to be fertilised. Eggs bought at the supermarket are typically from hens that are raised without a Cockerel being present and are infertile. After reading on you will be able to crack open a shop bought egg and see that it is infertile.

How Do You Tell If It's Infertile?
After cracking open your chosen egg you need to look for what is called the germinal disk or spot. The germ spot is the white spot on the yolk. The infertile germinal disk contains only the female's cells and looks like a solid white spot. In a fertile egg the germ spot contains both the female and male cells. This allows cells to divide and the spot grows while the rest of the egg is being built in the female's oviduct. Because of this growth the fertile germinal disk on the yolk looks like a circle with a somewhat clear centre.

Fertile and Infertile Eggs
Infertile Egg Notice the white spot just above the centre of the yolk.	Fertile Egg Notice the germinal disk looks larger and has a large circle.

If the egg  fails to develop even though it appears to be fertile it could be for a number of reasons. Was your incubation method correct, ie temperature, humidity?

Now you are furnished with the facts about hatching eggs you may have better luck next time with your incubation method with hatching eggs. Happy hatching and good luck!

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