fertile eggs vs. non-fertile

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cbadley

cbadley

Hatching
6 Years
Apr 7, 2013
7
0
7
Arkansas
I am totally new to this chicken thing, been doing lots of research. Get my chicks in a few weeks. I am wanting to add new chicks by allowing the laid eggs of my hens to hatch. I will have one rooster. My question is: how do I know which ones are fertile from the rooster that she needs to sit on and which are infertile that I need to collect?
 
You can crack them and tell by the mark on the yolk, or you can incubate them and see if they hatch. Usually, one roo will keep most or all of your eggs fertile, unless you have an awful lot of hens. (One rooster to 10 or 12 hens is a good ratio.) But you also need a hen to go broody for you, for her to hatch eggs. If she's not broody, she won't sit on the eggs. Here are a couple of links to explain further. And welcome to our forum!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/16008/how-to-tell-a-fertile-vs-infertile-egg-pictures/0_20

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/broody-hens
 
Last edited:
Greetings from Kansas, cbadley and
welcome-byc.gif
! Pleased you joined us! Looks like Flockwatcher has it covered. Good luck and enjoy your birds. Oh, and happy hatching!
 

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