we got 7 new chicks in april. they were all supposed to be pullets, so imagine my surprise when i went out to care for them yesterday and two of them crowed at me! OOOPS! we have 14 one year old hens and now 5 (we hope) new pullets. we have them to sell eggs so i haven't researched anything about roosters, fertile eggs, broody hens, hatching chicks, etc.
do i need to worry about the eggs being obviously fertile when selling them? what if we decide to let a hen hatch some. how do we go about that? how can i tell if a broody hen is sitting on fertile eggs to hatch or unfertile eggs that i want to gather and sell? can the roo stay with all of the ladies all of the time or should he sometimes be separated? when will he be of an age to begin mating? one roo is an easter egger and the other is a buff. our hens are rhode island reds, and striped plymouth rocks, easter eggers and buffs. i'm picturing some motley looking babies from these matings.
sorry to sound so clueless, but these cocks in the henhouse have really thrown me. thanks for any help!!