As @CoolBlueDude mentioned in his gamebird help post what are some good tricks or tips to tell if eggs are fertile for quail, chickens, ducks etc (I'm assuming what works for one species of egg should work for others)? Drakes generally abandon the hen to her brooding. The hen lays the egg and sits on it until it hatches, which is called brooding. The difference between fertilized and unfertilized eggs comes down to whether a rooster has been involved or not. how do you tell if duck eggs are fertile? There is no way of telling if an egg is fertile or not before putting it into the incubator. If its not, you should just be able to see the shape of the yellow yolk inside the egg, without any signs of an embryo or veins. Male ducks will force their corkscrew-shaped penis into their chosen female companion, in an attempt to fertilize her eggs. While the characteristics of many breeds make it easy to tell the males from the females by the time a duckling is 4 months old or younger, it's not always easy to know when a female duck is going to start laying. The oldest and easiest way to tell if an egg is fertilized is called candling the egg. A hen can lay fertilized eggs from anywhere to 2 days after mating up to 3 weeks after mating with the rooster. No it doesn't look different. Hens do not need a rooster to lay an egg; they do so (almost daily) on their own simply according to light patterns. But if you can pick it up or feel it, you will be able to tell if its empty. If you're looking to incubate your eggs, then the only way to tell if the egg is fertile is by incubating it for a few days, and then candling the egg to see its progress. Not every duck egg goes on to hatch a healthy duckling — some embryos die in the eggs, or the eggs become rotten or infected when bacteria grow inside them. This involves going into a dark room, and shining a bright light underneath the large end of the egg. Candle the eggs every third or fourth day to find out if the fertilized eggs are still viable. You can still eat them. Unfertilized eggs still have a white spot, but it’s much sharper and smaller, like a pin point vs bulls-eye. Ducks add beauty to a backyard pond while providing eggs for the table. , how can you tell. If it has weight to it, it is fertilized. A challenging aspect of raising ducks is discovering a recently hatched egg is dead or infected. We Think It May Be A Duck Egg Since Ducks Have Been On Our Pond Recently. Maybe you are raising duck eggs in an incubator so they can develop into baby ducklings, but you are not sure if your eggs are dead or alive. How to tell if your chicken eggs are fertile. Why she bury it I don't know. The same amount of stuff goes into the egg regardless if it's been fertilized or not. Pet Birds. It takes about 28 days for a fertile duck egg to hatch. So how can you tell if your eggs are fertilized? One of these concerns is whether the eggs they got from the supermarket are fertilized eggs or not. A fertilized egg will appear to have small spiderweb type veins inside the shell when it is 'candled'. Candling is a way of checking the fertility of an egg and the development of the embryo, with the use of a light source in a darkened room. Candling is an old term that means the application of bright light to an egg … You see, with ducks, mating is a rather violent affair. Fertilized eggs have a blurry, bulls-eye spot on the yolk. If it is empty, it should feel light with maybe what seems like a pebble inside. Drakes are one of 3 percent of bird species that have a penis instead of a cloaca, and when they mate with a female duck they physically coerce them into copulation. Whether you're looking to ensure your bird eggs are viable for breeding or just out of curiosity, checking to see if an egg is infertile can be quite easy. Since eggs are such a well-loved kind of food, it is no wonder people express some concern about the kind of egg they are eating. How to Tell if Duck Eggs Are Dead or Alive. The only way you can tell if they are fertile is by incubating them for 5 days, then candle them, you should see the beginnings of an embryo and veins.There is no point in candling eggs that not have been incubated, this will show you nothing. Not every duck egg goes on to hatch a healthy duckling — some embryos die in the eggs, or the eggs become rotten or infected when bacteria grow inside them.