Can You Tell If Hatching Eggs Are Fertile After Incubation?

Here at Meyer Hatchery, the hatching eggs we ship to you are the same ones we hatch ourselves! So, fertility is checked often.

Once hatching eggs have been placed in your incubator, you are no longer able to tell fertility due to the blastoderm being altered due to the incubation process. This blastoderm is what first starts to develop and will become your new baby chick! 

It's important to remember that just because you may not see development within an incubated egg after 7-10 days, that doesn't mean the egg was not fertile. There are lots of factors involved with hatching eggs, especially if the eggs arrive to you in the mail.  Things like detached air cells , weather, transit time, incubator settings, etc. can all affect the viability of eggs. 

There are a few things you can do to help improve hatch rates on shipped eggs.

• Make the investment into an incubator with good reviews. With incubators, you get what you pay for.
• Turn on your incubator and verify settings days before your eggs are due to arrive. Be sure you have the correct settings for the type of egg you are incubating and double-check them.
• When eggs arrive, allow them to rest with the pointy end down for 12-24 hours at room temperature. 
• Resist the urge to handle the eggs often. If you are candling your eggs, only do so once or twice. Every time you open the incubator, the environment within fluctuates. You also increase your risk of dropping eggs the more you handle them.
• Keep eggs pointy end down when candling, it is important the air cell remains stable at the top of the egg.
• "Lockdown" your eggs 3 days before they are due to hatch. Remove the turner (if you have one) and double-check your lockdown settings based on the type of egg you are incubating. 
• DO NOT open the incubator during the hatching process! Chicks are nourished by the egg yolk they absorb before hatching and are able to stay in the incubator without food and water for several days. Opening the incubator during the hatching process releases humidity and can cause your other eggs to shrinkwrap around the chick and not be able to hatch at all. 
• Have your brooder ready. Be sure the temperature is correct for the type of bird, there are no drafts, and they have appropriate food, water, and bedding.