Can you eat fertilized eggs?

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I have a question. I have three chickens, one we just found to be a rooster. So far no eggs have been laid. My question is, can we allow them to raise their babies the first time and then afterwards just use the chickens for laying for eating? For example, once they raise a clutch, will that hen always try to? The reason we would have them raise a clutch is to keep the females from that to add to our small flock instead of bringing outside chicks next year.
 
sappora said:
I have a question. I have three chickens, one we just found to be a rooster. So far no eggs have been laid. My question is, can we allow them to raise their babies the first time and then afterwards just use the chickens for laying for eating? For example, once they raise a clutch, will that hen always try to? The reason we would have them raise a clutch is to keep the females from that to add to our small flock instead of bringing outside chicks next year.
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If you're lucky enough to have birds that will brood, yes. When they first start laying, though, the eggs will be small. In the off-chance one of them wants to brood them, I would advise against it. The little "pullet eggs" usually hatch but i've found the chicks to be a bit stunted, not growing as fast as chicks from mature eggs.

As for wanting to always be a mom once having been a mom, I can't answer that. I rarely get a broody and when I do, half the time they give up halfway through and I have to finish their eggs in the incubator.
 
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We have 8 hens and a roo and the other night when my husband went to shut them in for the night he noticed a hen sitting on the eggs but did nothing. I got her off of them the following morning so she was sitting for less than 24 hours, can we eat these eggs?
 
KatieRice said:
We have 8 hens and a roo and the other night when my husband went to shut them in for the night he noticed a hen sitting on the eggs but did nothing. I got her off of them the following morning so she was sitting for less than 24 hours, can we eat these eggs?
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Fertilized eggs don't begin to develop until at least the third day under a hen and kept at a constant temperature. This allows a large clutch of eggs to be laid, and then to all develop at the same rate once the hen begins to set on them. It takes about 21 days for whichever eggs are going to hatch to do so, then the hen will abandon the nest with her chicks. The other eggs can be thrown away as they won't hatch and cannot be eaten. So, any eggs you collect within a few days of being laid should be fine. It's good practice to collect them at least once a day though.
 
Yes, they will go broody again, but I've found that if I collect my eggs everyday, they don't tend to go broody as often as if I mark an egg with a marker and leave it for them to find and sit on. Some breed are much more apt to go broody than others. I've had a Buff Orphington, Silver Spangled Hamburg and a Large White Cochin go broody. I've had one or two Barnvelders go broody, but they give it up pretty quickly. The others go through the entire 21-30 period before they snap out of it.
 
We have 7 buff orpingtons (8 months old) and I was just asking the other day why they haven't gone broody. I think this gal just wanted to be warm though because it has been frigid here in VT, last night 0F, -20 with windchill. Brrr...
 
I'm glad to have found this thread now I know I can eat them with a piece of mind. My hen poops on her eggs alot , do I toss those or wash them with soap? What's the best way to clean an egg?
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