06/01/2026
https://www.facebook.com/share/1D2Ry7MQkx/?mibextid=wwXIfr
𝔽𝕠𝕣 𝕖𝕕𝕦𝕔𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕡𝕦𝕣𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕖𝕤… 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙.
One piece of wording in the hatching community that I’m reading on my feed daily has been making me absolutely insane so let’s talk about it.
Just because an egg does not hatch does NOT mean it wasn’t fertilized or “fertile.”
Those are completely different conversations.
If a hen is actively laying, that alone confirms she still has functioning ova and reproductive capability. Hens are born with the egg supply they will have throughout their lifetime and once that reserve is depleted they stop laying entirely. Once this happens the bird can be called no longer fertile… retire that old bird.
Now whether or not an INDIVIDUAL egg successfully develops into a chick is a completely different issue involving fertilization timing, embryo viability, incubation variables, handling and especially shipping stress.
We hatch from the same eggs we sell. We get reports from multiple orders we ship a week….
Some people have absurdly high hatch rates someone reporting back with a 100% hatch from our shipped eggs is honestly crazier to hear for us than a 0% hatch rate.
We actively monitor fertilization constantly here. If eggs from a specific bird repeatedly fail to develop through multiple test hatches, those eggs are removed from hatching rotation and become consumption eggs only.
Yes… we literally even maintain a separate consumption pen because some buyers refuse to eat eggs from hens housed with roosters which personally makes me twitch a little, but I do understand preferences.
But shipped eggs are honestly kind of miraculous when they hatch at all.
These are fragile living cellular structures being temperature fluctuated, vibrated, pressure shifted and tossed through a shipping system not exactly designed for embryonic development.
And just because the shell arrives looking perfect does NOT mean the inside survived perfectly.
Air cells can detach or shift. Chalazae (the structures anchoring the yolk) can weaken or tear. Microscopic hairline fractures can form that are invisible externally. Internal membranes can separate. Embryos can experience temperature spikes, chilling or repeated vibration trauma before incubation even begins.
An egg can look absolutely pristine sitting in your hand and still be internally compromised.
Personally? When I buy shipped eggs myself I HOPE for 50% and I’m still genuinely happy with 30%.
And one of the best things I’ve read recently on Facebook, though I genuinely cannot remember who posted it, was:
“Just because an egg doesn’t LOOK damaged does not mean it isn’t damaged.”
Which honestly may be the most accurate description of shipped egg hatching I’ve ever heard.
So for the sake of breeder mental health please stop automatically calling eggs “not fertile” or “not fertilized” simply because they didn’t hatch.
Always reach out with concerns because yes, there absolutely are people not confirming fertility as often as they should or not hatching their own eggs at all. I personally like to know how hatches go regardless…. I’m a chronic note taker. I like to record the areas eggs are shipping to that have less than optimal hatch rates or visible damage to see if there is a pattern.
But anyway …….for the bulk of us who ARE constantly testing, hatching and monitoring our birds… an undeveloped egg does not mean “not fertile” please and thank you.
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