First time with rooster

[DotandDave]

Hi I have a 6mo rooster. Just started getting frisky. Had him since he was a baby. Hes housed at night with 2 girls his age. He roams during the day with my older girls as well. He prefers trying to get lucky with my older girls. The older girls are higher in the pecking order and usually chase him off.
All my chickens are healthy and laying consistently well. I watch who's laying what and where.
Can anyone please teach me about fertile eggs? Firstly I've read that putting eggs in the fridge stops the embryo. But if I leave the eggs in the nest box for the girls to brood on, they get eaten.
This morning one of my 3yo girls laid an egg the size of a small birds egg. I thought fertile eggs were same size. So I'm guessing this little egg could just be an anomaly?
I know there's no way of telling if an egg is fertile unless I crack it. I have seen pics of the fertile spot on a cracked yolk. I haven't seen any of those spots yet. So I guess I could keep waiting until I start seeing them when I crack them?
I thought about taking a few and leaving them in a safe, warm place. I have a candling torch - how long before I could candle them please?
Is there a way to incubate without an expensive incubator?
Any tips would be most helpful please.
Here's a pic - the larger egg is from my 6mo rode island red hen who's just started laying, normal size for her age. The smaller egg I'm pretty sure came from my 3yo Australorp who normally lays large eggs. There's a lot of blood speckles on the Australorp egg too.

 

[CluckerFamily]

My first thought was that the small egg is from one of the 6-month old chickens.

I only leave eggs in the nesting box if I have a broody hen that will sit on them and hatch them. If none of your hens are broody, I wouldn't leave the eggs in the nesting boxes.

 

[CluckerFamily]

You will tell with a hen goes broody whether there are eggs in the nesting box or not. She will stay in the nesting box for a long time waiting for other hens to lay eggs and then sit on them, and she will usually squawk at you when you try to check under her or when you gather eggs.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Hens don't always need eggs to stay to go broody. A few hours before you collect is enough to kick instincts up.

Also those aren't blood spots, just coloring

 

[Pullet Press]

Ooooooo! Maybe they dared each other.

Ugh, maybe.
Chicken a: "I laid a fart egg today. I dare you to beat me with a smaller egg!"
Chicken b: "Ha ha ha! I can easily beat you!"

 

[Pullet Press]

You can tell if an egg is fertile by candling it. You can look up stuff on candling. Fertile eggs are typically the size of the ones that your hens lay. If you have a broody hen with eggs under her (fertile or not), she will defend them with her life most of the time.

 

[DotandDave]

Thanks the small egg definitely wasn't from the 6mo hen. She has been laying good sized eggs for her age.
My question then is if I take the eggs away, then there's nothing for the hens to be broody for. Unless I put dummy eggs in and see if somebody gets broody?

 

[AllenK RGV]

Those were a load of questions. Under articles and then the learning center may answer most of them. That teny tiny egg looks like a bird and not a chicken egg to my eye but I am wrong most of the time.

 

[Chookwagn]

Thanks the small egg definitely wasn't from the 6mo hen. She has been laying good sized eggs for her age.
My question then is if I take the eggs away, then there's nothing for the hens to be broody for. Unless I put dummy eggs in and see if somebody gets broody?

the hens will go broody whether there are eggs in the box or not...

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Also it's probably a fart egg if it's from an older bird so odds are nonviable. And to candle for fertility you need to incubate for a few days before hand.