Confused and Befuddled...!

[AnimalGeek23]

Hey everyone!
So... I let the news out to my friend. That I am getting chicks in May. This friend had raised chickens before, but not chicks. She seemed really defiant(like I didn't know anything about chickens) about me getting them. I told her I was getting 2 pullets. The first thing she said was, "You know you have to cull them eventually..." I shook my head, "I don't HAVE to! ...Right?" Then she tried to come up with something else. "You'll end up giving some away. You start with 2, you end up with 5." II repeated, "No, no, I'm not getting a rooster. Just 2 or 3 pullets." My friend replied, "You don't need a roo for the eggs to hatch, you know." I was confused and replied, "Don't you need an incubator for the eggs to hatch...?" She shook her head.
So...
I am confused. Can chick eggs hatch if...
a) I don't have roosters
b) No incubators
c) No proper care for new born chicks
d) I eat them.

Yeah. Seems pretty much that an egg hatching is impossible, to me. But my friend seemed so sure! But, then again, she had chickens like the olden days--free range, fed them only scraps(no special chicken feed), they had to fend for themselves, etc. Her father also culled them in a very short time since she got them. Is my friend right?!
To be honest, I don't believe her. She didn't even know that there were such thing as breeds of chicken.

 

[CoopintheWoods]

Excluding a miracle, eggs will not hatch without a rooster (they will be infertile). If eggs (even fertile eggs) are not incubated by and incubator or hen, they will rot, not hatch. I have a rooster, but he is separated from the hens. None of my eggs are fertile. Even when a hen sits in them for days, they will never hatch. Good luck with your chickens!

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

Well, I am confused reading your post, but that doesn't take much.

Chickens will lay eggs no rooster needed. If you want to hatch eggs, a rooster is needed to make the egg fertile. You can eat a fertile egg, you just want to swipe eggs from the nest the day they are laid just to be sure no growth is happening.
If you wanted to hatch eggs you either need a broody chicken - one that will sit on the eggs to hatch. Or an incubator. If you have neither, you will not get chicks.
You may have to cull a chicken. It just is a fact of life - they get sick or maimed and there is no other course of action. I am sure you could find someone to do it for you if needed.
You may end up with more than 2, but that is called chicken math. It means you would go get more than 2 if you start out with pullets (females)
There are old school ways to care for chickens and then there are the friendly people at byc. I am sure if you get your pullets, you will have more questions and you can ask them here.
Eventually, you will have more knowledge with regards to chickens than your friend.
Good luck!

 

[sylviethecochin]

Okay. Your friend needs to retake sex ed. Or something.

I mean, I never took Sex Ed, and I still know that you need a male gamete and a female gamete to produce a zygote in diploid organisms. (Er... if the species has both male and female members, you need a male to fertilise the female's eggs or no babies.)

Technically, a broody could hatch eggs, no incubator required... but I agree. I'm almost positive they need to be fertile first.

But what are those big lizards that don't need no males? Komodo Dragons! Maybe her chickens can reproduce asexually. What do you think? Transverse fission sound likely?

 

[AnimalGeek23]

Well, I am confused reading your post, but that doesn't take much.

Chickens will lay eggs no rooster needed. If you want to hatch eggs, a rooster is needed to make the egg fertile. You can eat a fertile egg, you just want to swipe eggs from the nest the day they are laid just to be sure no growth is happening.
If you wanted to hatch eggs you either need a broody chicken - one that will sit on the eggs to hatch. Or an incubator. If you have neither, you will not get chicks.
You may have to cull a chicken. It just is a fact of life - they get sick or maimed and there is no other course of action. I am sure you could find someone to do it for you if needed.
You may end up with more than 2, but that is called chicken math. It means you would go get more than 2 if you start out with pullets (females)
There are old school ways to care for chickens and then there are the friendly people at byc. I am sure if you get your pullets, you will have more questions and you can ask them here.
Eventually, you will have more knowledge with regards to chickens than your friend.
Good luck!

Thanks! I do know that eggs will be laid no matter what, and thanks for telling me about the eggs!

 

[AnimalGeek23]

Okay. Your friend needs to retake sex ed. Or something.

I mean, I never took Sex Ed, and I still know that you need a male gamete and a female gamete to produce a zygote in diploid organisms. (Er... if the species has both male and female members, you need a male to fertilise the female's eggs or no babies.)

Technically, a broody could hatch eggs, no incubator required... but I agree. I'm almost positive they need to be fertile first.

But what are those big lizards that don't need no males? Komodo Dragons! Maybe her chickens can reproduce asexually. What do you think? Transverse fission sound likely?

Haha! My friend has never taken sex ed....

 

[AnimalGeek23]

My friend also said that they will smell... even if I clean their coop every week. Now I am worried about neighbor complaints!

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

If you do it right, there is very little smell. Mine mostly smell if it is a fresh dropping. Otherwise with the right set up and proper ventilation, you won't have a problem.
You would have to consider your local town's restrictions (or hoa) on poultry if there are any.

 

[purslanegarden]

My friend also said that they will smell... even if I clean their coop every week. Now I am worried about neighbor complaints!

I think you may get a whiff of them on certain days but I don't think it will waft over to the neighbors. However, that depends on how many you have and how close the neighbors are!

But I've even been to friend's large properties where they may have 10s of chickens, and as I approached the chicken area, I did not really notice any particular chicken smell. Now of course, having such a large property, they let some of their chickens roam, but there are still specimens or groups that are penned up for whatever reason, and nothing particular comes from them.