Found our 1st Eggs this morning

[TheChips]

This morning I went to check on my chickens and found 3 eggs in their little sleeping area.
My Isa Browns are 16 weeks old. I wish I knew which ones were laying because theyre all around the same age maybe only days apart.

I live in Michigan and winters here are very cold from 10-30 degrees it varies.

Question is: If I wanted to not eat these eggs and let them try to hatch them, do you think its safe being its so cold outside? Should I monitor if the hens are sitting on them. Because if theyre not I can just bring them inside to eat.

Also I know these eggs arent fertilized but I was reading about the difference between fertilized and in fertilized. Can you eat them either way?

Does the egg have to be fertilized to grow a chick inside?

Please point me in the right direction so I can read more about this. I have only found a few links but they havent answered my questions. I am new at this and this is their first winter thanks!

 

[sourland]

It is very unlikely that your Isa Browns will go broody. They have been bred for high egg production and low broodiness. There is no difference between fertile and non fertile eggs. Yes, you need a rooster, and eggs must be fertilized before they can be incubated to develop chicks.

 

[aart]

It is very unlikely that your Isa Browns will go broody. They have been bred for high egg production and low broodiness. There is no difference between fertile and non fertile eggs. Yes, you need a rooster, and eggs must be fertilized before they can be incubated to develop chicks.

No difference as far as eating them but, as noted, a non fertile egg will not hatch a chick.

A hen will only set on and hatch out fertile eggs if she is broody. A broody hen is one who sits on the nest for days and nights at a time.

'3 eggs in their sleeping area'? You don't want the hens sleeping in the nests, they will foul them with poop...and you won't be able to tell who might be broody.

 

[Happy Chooks]

As the others have said - you can eat fertile eggs and the egg must be fertilized to incubate a chick. Leaving eggs in the nest will not make your pullet go broody. It's a hormonal change in them, and when it happens, they will sit in a nest whether there is an egg there or not. With Isa Browns, they are bred for production, so it is very unlikely that they will go broody. Not impossible, but unlikely.