Eggs for food vs eggs for chicks...sound off please

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Beccazon

Crowing
Apr 23, 2019
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I am curious to hear from those who have chickens they intend to or have used for eggs AND chicks. Mine have just started laying. Like just yesterday. I have 7 gals and 3 cockerels. The boys are in a separate pen.

I would like to try raising some chicks of our own after the hens are all in a pattern of laying steadily. I would like advice and wisdom as to what age is best for mating (all are 4 months now), what season is best for it, should I allow one or both nice roos at a time to rejoin the flock of hens for a time, if so how long? How long after mating should I allow for possible fertilized eggs? Is there a best time to remove roos when I want to go back to egg production solely for eating?

Please give info, ask me questions, I would like to research the thoughts and ideas and options prior to deciding I want to try for chicks.

Thanx guys!
 
Not for sure on age, I do know about a year or older is better for chicks. Because the eggs are bigger which is better for healthy for chicks. As for mating anytime Now that they are laying, I can’t remember for sure on how long it takes for fertilization to be for sure. But as for eggs to not be fertilized it takes about two to three weeks I think. As for egg production only you can eat fertiliz d eggs you don’t have to wait
 
I would like advice and wisdom as to what age is best for mating (all are 4 months now)
They can mate at any age. As for what age is best? I prefer over a year. I want to see consistent production of large eggs without any health problems. I want to see good temperament and good growth with no health issues from my roosters as well.

what season is best for it
Spring is best, around April. That's the point of highest fertility. Because of our shorter summers, though, I like to shoot for chicks as late in the year as I can manage. They usually won't begin laying in the fall if I hatch them in the spring, and if they haven't started laying in the fall, they won't lay during winter, so I'll have wasted 1-3 months of feed before I get eggs in the spring (assuming they would have begun laying at 5 months.)

should I allow one or both nice roos at a time to rejoin the flock of hens for a time, if so how long?
I prefer to establish a permanent flock rooster. Less mess with the pecking order that way. With seven hens, I would leave it at one rooster.

How long after mating should I allow for possible fertilized eggs?
Up to a month.

Is there a best time to remove roos when I want to go back to egg production solely for eating?
Nah. Roosters don't usually affect egg production (if they affect it for the worse, they're stressing your hens and shouldn't be kept anyway) and fertilisation doesn't affect taste. Unless your weather regularly remains at 100℉, and you don't gather eggs for days at a time, I see no reason to keep the rooster away from his flock.
 
Yes, there is no reason to avoid eating fertilized eggs. We collect our eggs daily and put them in the refrigerator. For fertilized eggs to begin developing they have to be kept very warm, like around 99°F and kept there, plus they need very high humidity practically like a sauna. Once refrigerated any possibility of development is stopped cold, pardon the pun, so there is no chance of finding anything unwanted in your breakfast! I don't actually incubate eggs so my figures may not be accurate, but if you refrigerate your eggs you have nothing to worry about. You can actually keep them at room temperature and they'll be fine. Other countries than America do exactly that!
 
Thank you! Haha well MOM here knows we can eat them but try telling the kids or the hubby. Those were some truly special facial expressions A year would be good. That would be spring of next year and actual decent weather in my area lol
Lol, to funny. I was like that as a kid. I would only eat store bought eggs...
 
I want to see good temperament and good growth with no health issues from my roosters as well.

I see no reason to keep the rooster away from his flock.

Ok! All great info thank you! Now...I assume temperment is/can be passed down to a degree? I have 3 roos. One is entirely segregated from the flock. Waiting for him to grow some and off to the smoker he is going! He is terrible with the girls and awful with the boys. The other two are penned together at the moment and are just now starting to get a bit ornery with each other. Or rather, IDK (yup that's his name) is pulling rank on Pride. Pride has shown what I would call very good flock rooster type behavior. Concern for the girls, waiting for the last to come in from the yard before he goes in...but he is lowest of the 3 in pecking order. I know this is off topic some but, as Pride has the best temperment (and is the most beautiful boy!) would he be a good choice of the three to be the one I keep? And if so, should I reintroduce him to the flock now? They have been kept in an adjacent coop/run that is open to the girls by way if just fencing.
 
Lol, to funny. I was like that as a kid. I would only eat store bought eggs...
My mom-in-law is adamantly refusing to eat at my house now and my sis-in-law is repulsed and "better not find out if I feed her a duck egg". I laugh it off but honestly...it angers me. Like, grow up already! I was so not raised closed-minded or picky. Guess who's getting lied to on Easter when they bite into that delish deviled BYC egg!
 
Don't know with whom or when the " Don't Eat Fertilized Eggs " started, but it is ridiculous! Well then, Don't drink milk cause that's an UTTER EXCRETION! Don't eat Honey cause that's Bee VOMIT! Don't eat Organic Vegetables because they are Fertilized with COW POOP! Don't eat Cheese because it made with BACTERIA and MOLD! Don't eat Mushrooms because they are FUNGUS! Don't drink Spring Water because Animals POOP IN THE WOODS! Don't eat Imported Asian Rice because the People who pick it, POOP IN THE PADDY'S! I'm sure there are others Stupid Reasons not to eat some this or that. SILLY PEOPLE...JJ
 
Don't know with whom or when the " Don't Eat Fertilized Eggs " started, but it is ridiculous! Well then, Don't drink milk cause that's an UTTER EXCRETION! Don't eat Honey cause that's Bee VOMIT! Don't eat Organic Vegetables because they are Fertilized with COW POOP! Don't eat Cheese because it made with BACTERIA and MOLD! Don't eat Mushrooms because they are FUNGUS! Don't drink Spring Water because Animals POOP IN THE WOODS! Don't eat Imported Asian Rice because the People who pick it, POOP IN THE PADDY'S! I'm sure there are others Stupid Reasons not to eat some this or that. SILLY PEOPLE...JJ
Well when you put it that way.. lol.
 

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