Eggs or chicks? How to manage your cockerel?

[Rustysflock]

Ok i have a million questions being so new to this!! We have 6 hens and 1 cockerel. How do you manage eggs/chickes etc? Can you take all the eggs even if they have been firtilized? And if you have a broody hen can you let her be broody and no others? Then if yku have chicks do you have to keep them seperate as i know the cockerel has to be kept away from them. When do you introduce? So many questions!

 

[Nyla]

You can choose to take the eggs if you want. Them being fertilized has not difference in eating. They taste the same
As for a broody hen, it's also up to you if you want your hen to hatch out chicks. You don't have to let her, you can easily brake her broodiness with cold water.
Once the hen has hatched her chicks, you can chose to let her keep her chicks with the flock or separate them. I always leave my girls in the flock with their chicks. The mother hen will defend her chicks from the others.
It's best to do see but no touch introductions. If I decided to separate the chicks and mama from the rest, for me I like to start integrating them at 6-8 weeks old when fully feathered, but doing see but no touch from day old chicks to the 6-8weeks.
It's all about what you are comfortable with.

 

[bobbi-j]

Here's how I do it: I collect eggs every day, and make sure I have at least one dozen available in case I get a broody. I do this because I have plenty of space and want my broodies to hatch out chicks. I grow the cockerels out to fill the freezer, and keep pullets to replace my hens as they get older.

If you don't want them to hatch, just keep collecting the eggs. Another way to break a broody is to put her in a "broody buster" cage. A wire cage with wire bottom and no bedding so her undersides can cool off. Put her food and water with her. After a day or two, let her out and see if she goes out to free range or to the nest. If she free ranges, great! If she goes back to the nest, in the buster she goes.

When I let a broody hatch, I'll either let her stay in the coop with the other chickens, or I will separate her within the coop for a week or so before integrating. Where I let her set depends on how stubborn she is about being moved. If she's in the coop with the rest of the flock, I mark the eggs I put under her so I know which are hers, and which ones are extras that may have been laid in the nest. It's very important to remove the extras every day.

My experience with roosters and chicks is they usually tend to ignore them, but will stop any bullies that go after the mama. Your broody will be fiercely protective of her babies and the other hens learn to leave her alone. I used to wait until the babies were about 4-8 weeks old to integrate, but it works much better for me to do it when they're fairly fresh. When they're older, Mama doesn't have those protective broody hormones going on and the chicks will be left to integrate on their own without her protection.