egg questions

[nromero]

When.will my chicks lay eggs? They were hatched Dec.11, 2014 (I think they are older).Also I have 2 roosters, how do I tell a fertilized egg from a non fertalized? Can we eat fertilized eggs?

 

[Ridgerunner]

This is not much of an answer, but they will lay when they lay. Each one is an individual. Breed matters a little bit. Strain within the breed matters more. But regardless of breed or strain there is no set time. Time of the year matters some with some. I’ve had pullets start laying at 16 weeks. Not many but a few. I’ve had some wait until they were 9 months old. You also need enough chickens for the averages to mean anything.

Based on age and the time of year, I’d expect you to see your first egg around 20 weeks of age, but that is just a guess. I really don’t know.

People have been safely eating fertilized eggs since they started eating eggs, however many thousands of years ago that was. As long as it has not been incubated, there is no real difference in a fertilized or non-fertilized egg.

This thread tells you how to spot the bull’s eye and has some nice photos to help.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/16008/how-to-tell-a-fertile-vs-infertile-egg-pictures

 

[Twistedfeather]

Ridgerunner does bring some good points, the age where sexual maturity starts in both the pullet and the cockerel is at estimated at the 6 month mark thus that is when they normally start to lay (especially if they're production birds or from the hatchery) some birds like bantams are totally different. Thought they can start at the six month mark there are also late bloomers.

Yes, you can eat fertilized eggs provided there is no embryo inside it (Although in some countries that's a delicacy.) Open some of the eggs and look for the germ spot (Blastodisc) if you can see concentric rings in it you know it's a (Blastoderm) or a fertilized egg. If you plan on incubating some of these eggs make sure not to hatch out the first few eggs that your pullets lay.

 

[nromero]

They are not from a hatchery.I got them from a man who had aduly birds for a class project.The egggs were layed and he incubated them and took care of them till they hatched.Then he gave them to me when they were 2 weeks old.I have had chickens befor but they were givin to me as adults and already had a laying pattern and were all girls.