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

[WVBassFan]

I only have one rooster and he has 6 hens... one went broody this year so I left her alone (mark eggs with marker and remove her each day to get the fresh ones) 21 days later she hatched 5 ... I went and purchased a few more and she raised them ... her brood is done and I’m 9 chicks to the good ... lost a few ...

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!

 

[lifein1840]

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

If you gather your eggs daily, you won't be able to tell the fertilized from the unfertilized eggs. Shhhh....just don't bring it up and they will never know!

 

[TheFarm41]

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!

We run our chickens and roos together all the time and eat the eggs. Then if we get a broody we let her sit and hatch and raise the chicks, or you can incubate eggs anytime. It is so fun to watch mama teach them, and a lot less work - no lights, no chicks in the house, no separate pens, less worry, no messy water dishes. It is perfectly fine to eat eggs that are fertilized. You will never know the difference in taste and appearance. But I think 3 roos is too many for just 7 hens. 1 roo is good to cover about 25 hens. 3 roos in a close space will fight and compete for the hens and be constantly mounting them.
Raising your own chicks from your own eggs is sooo much fun!

 

[lifein1840]

If you gather your eggs daily, you won't be able to tell the fertilized from the unfertilized eggs. Shhhh....just don't bring it up and they will never know!

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.

Absolutely go with Pride!! He sounds like a great rooster! Hope you have some hens that will go broody for you! You are on the "chicken math" train.....

 

[TheFarm41]

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!

We always have the hens and roos together and eat the fertilized eggs. This thread reminds me of a funny story from my childhood. Let me start by saying we had way too many chickens, some started laying outside of the coop and my mom didn't pick up the eggs every day.

One day my aunt was visiting and baking a cake for a party. She was happily cracking the eggs into the cake bowl and the third egg she cracked out came a half incubated chick. She screamed hysterically and was quite upset with my mom. Apparently a hen sat on that egg for a while and then abandoned it and my mom picked it up unknowingly.

Us kids got a good laugh. But in all seriousness this is the one and only time that has ever happened in the 40 years we have had chickens and as long as you are collecting eggs daily and paying attention, eating fertilized, non-incubated eggs is perfectly fine.

 

[Beccazon]

Hi, I can understand you might want to raise chicks but I question why you have 3 cockerels unless you have lots of hens. One rooster to 7 hens should be fine. Fatten up those cockerels and put 2 in the freezer. You're feeding two more chickens than you need to. I don't have chickens now but do have 2 degrees in AG and was raised with chickens. Good luck.

Like I said I got chicks this spring and 3 ended up cockerels. New to this is why I kept them until I got more info and did more research. That said, I knew it was too many for my girls and 2 had attitudes I didn't want. That's why they were separated...again while I learned more. I assume I am not the only one to learn some things as I go. The idea for not relieving myself of them earlier was my intent to get them big enough to be worth eating...but attitudes flared before I could get my answers.

That said, Lil Bit and IDK have been set to rest in my fridge as of this morning.

Pride is doing a fabulous job of being an overall good flock roo so I hope that continues! And yes I would surely like a few more pullets/hens. I look forward to next spring when if I end up with any cockerels I will have a mature roo and hens to crack the whip if need be. A whole different dynamic to look forward to!

 

[Beccazon]

My problem is when the young roosters come into age.....crowing and strutting....they think they are just the greatest

Makes it clear how the term "cocky" came into being huh?! Lmbo yes that happened overnight here and caught me off guard! I was still letting them get some "meat on the bone" before I sent them to the pot when they became a problem. I definitely know now for the next set of chicks!!

 

[Larry Rose]

Neat! Now you make me want to incubate a batch of box store eggs and see what crops up! Will eggs hatch if fertile even after having been refrigerated??

No, refrigerating them makes the fertilized part die.

 

[aart]

No, refrigerating them makes the fertilized part die.

Not so, I have hatched a refrigerated egg...and many folks have hatched Trader Joes fertilized egg which are refrigerated. More to do with age of eggs than temps.

 

[Headhen3]

If you are the one doing the cooking I would not even bring up the subject of fertilized or not fertilized. Or perhaps it is an objection to women’s/female reproductive rights. I have 100 + chickens with 5 roosters. Roosters all get along well enough that I don’t worry about fights. They are all together day and night. Free range during the longer daylight seasons. I just moved this years chicklets in with the big girls at 10 weeks. I buy all my chicks from Meyer Hatchery since it is close enough to drive to for me. The good breeding and sex surety makes it much more efficient for me. The few chicks that my hens have hatched have been disappointing so I’ll stick with a proven source.