Chicken + Rooster = Chick

[Painted Calls]

Some breeds are also more prone to going broody than others.

 

[CrazyChicken Lady]

I agree with everything above And no, your hen won’t just sit on a egg because it’s fertile....... she probably doesn’t even know. Also most dual purpose breeds have been bred to not go broody ( some still do though ) so it’s mostly bantams and other more “ broody” breeds. Also did I misunderstand? Because it sounds like you said you got day old chicks May 29th...... which would make them 2 1/2 months. Which isn’t close to laying. They lay at around 6 months. It varies a lot though. Please correct me if I did misunderstand though.

 

[TheMrsChick]

Here are some basic things I can think of:

--a hen will lay an egg, every day or every other day or two days out of three or some such pattern. It varies a little from one hen to another.

--if a hen lays a brown egg one day, she will always lay brown eggs. The same goes for white, or blue, or green. The shade of brown (or green or blue) may vary a little from one day to another, but not a whole lot.

--if there is a rooster in the flock, all eggs will probably be fertile

--the hens seem to have no idea whether the eggs are fertile or not. They do not act differently depending on whether the eggs are fertile.

--some hens will go broody (sit on the nest day & night). If you let them sit on fertile eggs, chicks will grow inside the eggs, and will hatch in about 21 days.

--some hens will never go broody. It's just the way they are.

--a broody hen will happily sit on eggs she laid, eggs laid by any other hen, fake eggs made of wood or plastic or ceramic, golf balls, round stones, or anything else that is sort-of like an egg. Some will sit on a nest with no eggs. They are also happy to sit on duck eggs, turkey eggs, or any other kind of eggs that are sort-of close to the right size. A hen is not picky about how many eggs she sits on. She is also not upset if you change how many eggs she has. She might peck you when you try to take eggs, but she will be content again after you walk away.

--a broody hen stops laying eggs. She will absorb the egg yolks that have not yet been laid, and also lose weight (mostly fat) while she is broody. She will usually come off the nest once or twice each day to eat quickly, although she won't eat as much total food as usual.

--hens are more likely to go broody in the spring as the days get longer. They are more likely to go broody if some eggs (real or fake) are in the nests for them to sit on. Other than that, there isn't much you can do to affect it. You cannot make a hen go broody, and you cannot prevent a hen from going broody. (But you can make her stop being broody after she starts.)

--you can "break" a broody hen (make her quit being broody). A common method is to put her in a wire cage, with a wire floor and no nest. She can have food, water, and a perch. She will spend the first day or two trying frantically to get back to her nest. But within a few days, she will quit being broody, and act normal. Then you can let her live in her normal place again. It might take days or weeks until she starts laying eggs again. She will NOT be mad at you, and she will NOT be depressed about having her broodiness broken.

--if you collect eggs every day, and store them in the refrigerator or even at room temperature (below about 75 degrees fahrenheit), you will never find a chick growing in an egg. For the chick to start growing requires higher temperatures (close to 100 degrees to grow right, although they may start growing and die if temperatures are a big higher or lower than that.)

--if you cook the eggs, no-one will ever know if the egg was fertile.

--if you crack the raw egg into a bowl and look, many people say they can tell fertile eggs from infertile ones by looking at a particular spot on the yolk. It's never worked for me.

--If you want to hatch eggs (with a broody hen or an incubator), collect them each day and store at an appropriate temperature (warmer than the fridge, cooler than most houses). Store them for up to a week, then set them all in the incubator or under the hen on the same day. That way the chicks will hatch about the same time as each other.

You are my hero. If all of that isn’t from a book, you should write that book. Amazing. Thank you so very much.

 

[TheMrsChick]

You collect any egg you want. Your the boss. Do you even have a broody hen at all?

I have not yet noticed a broody hen. We have 3 ‘OG’s from last year and they are great layers. But none of them are broody. And the rest are all from March of this year and haven’t started laying yet so no broody hens that I’ve seen yet.

 

[TheMrsChick]

1 rooster to 5 hens is a good breeding ratio to ensure all eggs are fertile. If your not interested in fertility then 1-10+ is better so your hens aren’t worn out. I keep two roosters in a separate pen to save my hens back feathers.

you will know a broody hen by the fact she is sitting on the nest and often pecking you when you get eggs. If you have a broody hen and want more chickens than you can try having her hatch more. Only hatch more if you want more chickens. The chickens instinct will be to breed and multiply. And keep in mind hatched chicks are going to be 50/50 hens and roosters so you will either have to cull the roosters or try and find homes (which isn’t usually easy -especially if you have feelings about them being eaten).

I would recommend you get the Gail Damerow book - a guide to raising chickens. She does a good job of breaking things down. (For what my recommendation is worth - lol)

To express how new I am to all of this, I had to google “cull the roosters”… yikes. I understand it’s part of the process, my Mama heart is just taking it’s sweet time on toughening up to that side of it. It’ll get there!
thanks so much for the tips and the book recommendation, I’ll definitely get that and get to reading!

 

[TheMrsChick]

I agree with everything above And no, your hen won’t just sit on a egg because it’s fertile....... she probably doesn’t even know. Also most dual purpose breeds have been bred to not go broody ( some still do though ) so it’s mostly bantams and other more “ broody” breeds. Also did I misunderstand? Because it sounds like you said you got day old chicks May 29th...... which would make them 2 1/2 months. Which isn’t close to laying. They lay at around 6 months. It varies a lot though. Please correct me if I did misunderstand though.

I’ve gotten mixed information regarding that, too! Some say they start laying between 16 and anywhere from 29 to 40 weeks old. It’s safe to assume they’ll lay eggs…. Sometime during their lives

 

[CrazyChicken Lady]

I’ve gotten mixed information regarding that, too! Some say they start laying between 16 and anywhere from 29 to 40 weeks old. It’s safe to assume they’ll lay eggs…. Sometime during their lives

Some point in time! But I’ve always had my hens lay right around 6 months..... with heavier breeds at 7-8
And even some overachievers laying at 5.

 

[sdm111]

Roosters are chickens

 

[Brooks_]

I had to google “cull the roosters”… yikes.

You won't necessarily have to. Your situation will determine it.

 

[Brooks_]

(warmer than the fridge, cooler than most houses).

Looking for that sweet number.