fertilized or not?

[the simple life]

I know this is going to sound really stupid and show how green I am at this chicken business(and I really wish I had an alias to ask this) but I have a question.
If you have various hens laying eggs how do you know which ones are to eat and which are to hatch?
How do you tell if its fertlized or not? I

 

[speckledhen]

If there's a rooster with the hens, you would assume the eggs are fertile. You can't tell if a particular egg is fertilized by looking at it unless you crack it open and look at the yolk or incubate it to a certain point and candle or again, crack it open and look for veining. You can eat fertile eggs-there is no taste difference whatsoever.

 

[Tuffoldhen]

If you have a rooster in with your hens..all or most of your eggs are going to be fertile...

You can not tell the difference in a fertile egg / non-fertile one by eating it...they taste the same...

Development of fertile eggs only happens when you start the incubation process either by a Broody hen or an Incubator...

Only way to tell fertile /non fertile is to crack one in a dish and look for the bulleye disc...or to incubate for a few days and candle the egg...

 

[Vamp-A-Billy Princess]

If you want to eat some it doesnt matter either way.