I'm raising chicks this winter. How long do I have to keep them inside?

[BDutch]

I cannot wait until spring. They are fertilized, and I don't want to destroy potential baby chicks. I have eight chickens, which are all very friendly towards newcomers. I have integrated into the flock before. I am not worried at all about space, because my coop is very large. right now, I only have three eggs, but i know more are coming from my chickens.

Welcome to the world of chickens, Amazing chicken keeper.

Fertilised is not the same as alive and kicking. A fertile egg is no more than an eggcell that has the potential to grow into something that could be a chick after a 3 weeks hatch.
You can eat these eggs just as well as unfertilised eggs.

I would wait till spring to hatch a few eggs if you want more chickens. Spring is the best and easiest season to grow up as a chick.
Did you know that every egg that hatches has the same chance to become a pullet as a cockerel? Think ahead about what to do with all the cockerels that hatch.

 

[azygous]

Also, if I may add, a chick doesn't begin to develop from a fertilized egg until nearly a day after a hen begins to sit on it, bringing it up to the proper incubation temperature. Therefore, any eggs gathered and refrigerated the day they are laid in no way contain a developing chick embryo, only a blastocyst consisting of two or three rudimentary cells.