Hi and welcome to BYC. We have 18 hens and a rooster. You need a rooster if you want the eggs to hatch. We gather the eggs every day and either eat them or sell or give away the extra. Some time this summer one or more of our hens will probably go broody. That means she will decide to stay on the nest. She won't want to get up and she won't want us to take the eggs away. What we have done in the past is marked the eggs we wanted her to hatch. We removed her and the hatching eggs and put her in a quiet safe place by herself. It takes about 21 days for the eggs to hatch. We gave her fresh food and water every day. She took care of the baby chicks until they could take care of themselves and be part of the flock.