Help with hatching eggs

[dingocali67]

New to chickens please don't laugh. We got 1 rooster with our 12 chickens this year. They are now laying and the rooster is going crazy. The kids would like to hatch some eggs. What is the best way to do this? Are the eggs safe to eat with a rooster. How do we know if they have been fertilized or not? See lots of questions. Thanks for any feedback.

 

[KikiLeigh02]

Nobody will laugh at your questions here! Eggs are safe to eat as long as you collect them everyday! You really can't tell the difference between a fertile and infertile egg when you eat them. You can tell if they're fertile by cracking them open!
Scroll down in this article, there is a good photo of both a fertile and an infertile egg:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/information-on-candling-eggs.73302/

To hatch your own you can either incubate them yourself or wait for one of your hens to go broody. For information on hatching I would start here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hatching-eggs-101.64195/

 

[dingocali67]

Thank you so much for getting back to me so fast. I will start by seeing if the eggs are getting fertilized. I don't believe we have a broody hen yet. They really haven't been sitting on them very long. I will do some reading from the article you sent. Thanks again