I just got my first chickens a couple months ago. Theyre about 4 months old so they're not laying yet but im expecting them to be withing the next few months. I have a rooster so im expecting them to be fertile. Its warm where i live, usually 95-105 so will i need to incubate my eggs that i want to hatch? Why do you incubate instead of leaving them with the hens? How can i tell which are fertile and which arent? I will want to eat alot of them as well. Is there a way to tell or is it just luck of the draw?
Welcome to our forum! Unless it's that hot at night as well, they will need incubation. If a hen goes broody for you, she will sit on them and hatch them. Otherwise, you will need an incubator. All your eggs are very likely to be fertile, or very nearly all of them, once the rooster is mature amd has learned how to be a "proper rooster," which may not happen the first few times he attempts mating. I'd give him a month or two after he starts mating them. There are ony two ways to tell if an egg is fertile. Incubate it, or break it open and look for the bullseye on the yolk, which is a small white dot inside a small white circle. Infertile eggs will only have the white dot: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/16008/how-to-tell-a-fertile-vs-infertile-egg-pictures/0_20 (This thread is linked in the sticky n the Incubating forum.)
