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

[sylviethecochin]

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.

I'd leave him in the cockerel pen as long as you can, actually. My theory is that it prevents them from letting their hormones take control and forming bad habits when they're younger. However, I agree that Pride sounds like the boy for you.

 

[SueT]

re eating fertilized eggs, last yr a BYC member put some Walmart eggs in her incubator and one of them actually hatched! She named it Wally. So there's a good chance many people are eating fertile eggs without knowing it.
Back in the 1960's, fertile eggs were considered superior and you had to pay more for them! It was a selling point.
I think there's absolutely no difference.

 

[Beccazon]

re eating fertilized eggs, last yr a BYC member put some Walmart eggs in her incubator and one of them actually hatched! She named it Wally. So there's a good chance many people are eating fertile eggs without knowing it.
Back in the 1960's, fertile eggs were considered superior and you had to pay more for them! It was a selling point.
I think there's absolutely no difference.

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??

 

[aart]

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!

I would strongly suggest you get thru your first winter before adding more birds. Winter is a whole other learning curve, as is hatching/integrating/slaughtering.

Why do you have chickens....eggs, meat, pets?
How much housing space do you have, in feet by feet with pics?
When you say "raise some chicks" are you going to buy chicks, use an incubator, or hope for a broody hen?
Do you want to sell chicks or keep them all?
Do you have separate space to grow out chicks and a plan to integrate them?
Are you prepared to 'get rid of' the ~50% male chicks if you hatch?
Keeping multiple males in separate enclosure is a waste of feed, IMO, pick one and get rid of the others...unless you are a serious breeder making chick/ens to sell or show.
Moving a male in with females should produce fertile eggs within a week.
Just one mating can produce fertile eggs for up to a month, tho hatching eggs are best at less than about 10 days. Best not to hatch pullet eggs, wait at least a few months.

My overall goal was/is eggs to sell enough to pay for feed and most the bedding.
Coop/run building and other equipment and supply costs are the 'hobby' part.
I keep one cockbird and ~dozen hens, hatch replacement layers each early spring and slaughter the cockerels by 14-16 weeks. I also slaughter the older hens then or in the fall because I only have so much housing to get thru winter. Did a too crowded coop one winter, never again. Do not underestimate the need for more than 'adequate' weatherproof housing.

 

[SueT]

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??

well apparently that one did! People do say they have hatched their own eggs that were refrigerated, but it reduces the chances; also the longer they've been stored the less chance they have too. But re commercial eggs, if we backyard-ers occasionally get oops roos, then I guess the big egg producers do too. And then a lucky male could possibly remain undetected in a big flock of uncaged birds and thus fertilize eggs.

 

[The Angry Hen]

There is nothing wrong with eating fertilized eggs. After a fertile egg is laid, it could take anywhere from 5 days to a week (with incubation from a hen or incubator) for it to develop. Until then, the egg should be perfectly edible for you to collect and use for food.

I'd say 6+ months is the ideal age for breeding. Breeding a pullet any younger could lead to the wasting disease in a later offspring... something very tricky to deal with... and often a young age of death.
I honestly would not suggest you breeding until 8+ months due to the fact that your birds will need sometime to settle into their personalities- along with their home. And you may need sometime to develop enough of a grasping for your first time owning birds.

Breeding a cockerel too young means you may not know his stance. The last thing you want is to unintentionally end up with an aggressive bird's heir.

I wish good luck to you, and that you end up successfully breeding in the future. Just take things easy, and wait for the right time for things to settle.

 

[aart]

the wasting disease in a later offspring

What? Never heard of this.

 

[The Angry Hen]

What? Never heard of this.

I once had a hen that stopped laying at a very young age and passed from what I believe is exactly Lymphoid Leukosis in poultry. She was from Myers Hatchery as an egg and I believe they breed too young. All of the things add up to her poor health.

https://www.thecuckoopoultrystudofa...leukosis-ndash-avian-the-wasting-disease.html

 

[careeka22]

I waited until my flock was a year old and I also had them tested for Avian Flu (free through the state). I am on the waiting list for NPIP but I wanted to ensure very healthy breeding stock. I have a Lavender Orpington rooster with good size and temperament and a mix group of girls. I built my own incubator and have had good success. However last hatch I used refrigerated eggs and it went very poorly. I won't do it again. People have success but it's not for me. We eat them regardless, honestly there is no difference at all. When selecting eggs for incubation pick ones that are not very porous (candle them to look for spotting) and also get nice sized ones. Young hens will lay small eggs, buy next spring I think you should be good to start incubating. Good luck!

 

[aart]

I once had a hen that stopped laying at a very young age and passed from what I believe is exactly Lymphoid Leukosis in poultry. She was from Myers Hatchery as an egg and I believe they breed too young.

https://www.thecuckoopoultrystudofa...leukosis-ndash-avian-the-wasting-disease.html

Huh.
"published 2004(by the Cuckoo Stud) - subject to copyright laws of Australia"