how do I get baby chicks

[caltonraphael]

Hi I have four hens and one rooster in my chicken coop, I get eggs everyday in the egg nest box, what do I need to do to get the eggs fertilized and get baby chicks. Thx for your help.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Does the rooster mate with the hens? How old are they?

 

[caltonraphael]

How do I know if the rooster mate with the hens ? the hens are a little bite than a year old and the rooster around a year old too. Thx for your help.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Well if they are that old, they should be mating by now, unless your roo is a bantam and the hens are large fowl...sometimes the banty roos can't mate easily with LF.

So, assuming that you have fertile eggs you can put them in an incubator or have a hen set on them (there is a way to tell by looking at them...the white spot in the yolk will have a circle around it, called a bulls-eye). I can find the thread for you that shows it if you wish.

If you don't currently have a broody hen (one that sets in the nest box and growls at you when you come near), then you would need to put them in an incubator that turns them or manually turn them for 21 days.

Keep asking questions if you have them!

 

[weimarmama]

You can check to see if the eggs are fertile by cracking them open. This is a great post with pictures of fertile & infertile eggs: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/16008/how-to-tell-a-fertile-vs-infertile-egg-pictures

 

[caltonraphael]

I think they mate because I let my hens and rooster free in my backyard sometime and see the rooster jumping on the hens sometime (like dogs do). So far I have been hoping for a hen to stay in the egg nest and sit on one egg but I have four separate egg nest but they drop the eggs only on the same spot. Should I put one egg in one box and leave it there to see what is happening. Right now I collect the eggs everyday, do you suggest I stop collecting them ?

 

[caltonraphael]

thank you so much I will check tonight if the eggs are fertile or not.

 

[tec27]

More than likely your eggs are already fertile.

 

[caltonraphael]

Any suggestion on "forcing" the hens to stay on the eggs so that she can incubate them ?

 

[tec27]

Any suggestion on "forcing" the hens to stay on the eggs so that she can incubate them ?

If they don't want to do it, they're not going to. If you let the eggs pile up like 4-10 eggs, the instinct to lay on them may kick in. Depends on the chicken. If you really want hens to incubate eggs get silkie's, they're known for it.