How long will she be fertile

[MonkeyZero]

Hey

Well
My hens have been bred by the wild roo, and the eggs are fertile. My question:

How long will she have the sperm in her?
AND
How do I tell if an egg is fertile, without cracking them?
I tell the egg is fertile by cracking, but I want this hen to go broody and hatch them her self HELP!!!

Ps. In the 21 day period, how many eggs will she lay. I only want about 4 chicks, so can I collect some eggs but not ruin her broodyniess?

Thanks
Sindoora


Edited to get rid of a word that I felt was inappropriate for a family/child friendly forum.

 

[Josie]

I believe up to three weeks is the standard answer to how long they will be fertile, though once in a while you will here about it going longer.

The only way to tell if an egg is fertile without cracking it is to incubate it.

You might want to let the hen keep a bunch of eggs so that she will go broody. Most people says their bird goes broody after 12ish eggs. Maybe you can remove some if you want later?

 

[bigzio]

Broody is a instink created by her hormones, and not something you can cause to happen. Eggs in the nest won't make a chicken broody.

Mother Nature has control over whether she goes broody or not.

bigzio

 

[MonkeyZero]

Well, she is broody. Can I move her to collect an egg, without destroying broodiness? I put a fake rock egg by her and it is being cared for like an egg. So, after she sits on the egg for a while, how do I candel it. How do I candle eggs, and know fertility?