• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

a traditional life

keep a traditional kitchen, garden and pantry

  • Home
  • Kitchen
    • decor & design
    • Natural Kitchen
  • Homemaking
  • Recipes
    • Tips & Tutorials
    • Fermenting
    • Good Recipes
  • Preserving
    • Dehydrating
    • Freezing
    • Pressure Canning
    • Waterbath Canning
    • Cold Room Storage
  • Farm & Garden
    • Country Life
    • Herbs & Flowers
    • Vegetable Garden
    • Small Creatures

How to Make Sure Your Hatching Eggs Are Fertile

April 22, 2019 by Autumn 2 Comments

It’s a wonderful feeling when spring finally arrives on our little mountain farmstead! Tender green grass peeps through the soil and my young currant bushes put out tiny, rippled leaves. My hens also feel the effects of spring and start laying their oval shaped eggs with regularity. And me? I start carefully collecting their eggs for hatching!

Today, I want to tell you all about how you can make sure your hatching eggs are fertile. Because it’s so simple, it actually isn’t talked about much. And yet? It’s a crucial part of keeping an ongoing flock of birds!

Farm fresh eggs held in the hands

 

A Male Bird

First of all? You need to keep a male bird with your hens. Obvious, I know! But without his work, eggs will remain infertile. Instead of developing into little birds, they’ll simply rot in the incubation process. It doesn’t matter if you use an electric incubator or a mama bird. No male=no baby birds!

 

A Male Bird In His Prime

As with female poultry, a male bird is only productive for so long. Once he’s past his prime, he slowly starts losing his much-needed abilities! If your eggs don’t develop in the incubation process, it could be that your male needs to be replaced by a younger, fresher male!

Productivity in males will vary according to poultry types and even among heritage/non-heritage birds, so be sure and do your research on your particular type and breed of poultry!

A rooster on the farmyard

 

Enough Male Bird to Go Around

Depending on the size of your flock and the type of poultry you keep, one male might not be enough to go around! If there are too many females, big daddy simply won’t be able to cover them all. So once again, do your research and also, keep records so you know when your male/s need to be changed out.

 

 

Other Things to Also Consider

4When attempting to hatch eggs from your birds, you also need to consider the breed you’re working with. Some fast-growing meat birds won’t produce fertile eggs without human intervention. That’s right! The males grow so large, they need help with the mating process.

And remember: if you’re working with a hybrid breed (like top-quality, egg-producers), their offspring won’t be true to type. Just something to think about before you decide to raise baby birds on your land!

 

That’s the Basics!

So there you have it! If you ensure these basic requirements are met, your birds will readily do their part to make sure your hatching eggs are fertile. Wanna learn about how to collect eggs for incubation? Be sure to read this blog post o’ mine! 

 

How to Make Sure Your Hatching Eggs Are Fertile

Share with someone else!

Previous Post: « Our Journey to the Farm: Part 9
Next Post: Our Journey to the Farm: Part 10 »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Helen says

    April 22, 2019 at 11:45 am

    Gorgeous rooster and hens!

    Reply
    • Autumn says

      April 23, 2019 at 3:13 pm

      This actually isn’t my photo, but I agree!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

  • Email
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

hey you!

hey you!

I'm Autumn! And this is where I express my infatuation for country cooking, gardening, food preservation and living a simple life in the countryside!

  • Ad Free Login
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclosure
  • Ad Free Subscription

Footer

Shop Amazon

I am an affiliate for Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. Make a purchase and I’ll receive a small commission.

Go HERE to shop USA

Hey you!

I'm Autumn! And this is where I express my infatuation for country cooking, gardening, food preservation and living a simple life in the countryside! Read More…

Copyright © 2023 · Midnight theme