[blue hen]

My welsummer hens - hatched June 2011 - are all laying really well and I'm tempted to start incubating a batch of their eggs. I've never started this early before - usually wait until March/April, but the cockerel who is running with them is very active  and I'm hoping the eggs will be fertile! Has anyone else started incubating yet? Any ideas or suggestions?

[robate55]

Our chickens have been laying well all winter & the cockerel is working hard so we incubated 19 eggs.  5 hatched this week & i have just opened all the other eggs - 12 were unfertilised. 1 died at hatching & 1 had died during development. I think that it was just too early for many fertilised eggs. the five are growing well though
Rose

[Riggy]

I had the opposite!

Hatched 12 from 12 Buff Orpingtons 4 weeks ago!

[JEP]

a lot of the larger breeds do tend to start early
were just waiting for ares to get in to lay

[chrismahon]

Crack some eggs open Blue Hen and see if they are fertile -look for the blastoderm. We found it easier to see on week old eggs. We have just checked the fertility of two cockerels and they are. Look on the site www.darkbrowneggs.info as there are two photos showing ferilised and unfertilised and an explaination of the whole process -interesting reading.

[blue hen]

Thanks chrismahon, I will check eggs as you suggest. Very useful!

[hughesy]

I've got eggs in the incy due to hatch this coming friday. 21 out of 24 developing nicely when candled a couple of days ago.