Just started laying! NEED ADVISE PLEASE!!!

[ranchhand]

Is the hen actually broody? If she is, then she will take care of the chicks for the most part. I prefer to put a broody and her eggs in a separate cage or crate in the coop until the chicks are big enough to run fast from the grumpy other birds. If she's truly broody, you can either keep taking the eggs and getting her off the nest, to break the broodiness, or you can let her hatch.

You need to get rid of 4 roosters. The ratio of hens to roosters should be about 10:1.

Why would you throw away the eggs? Fertilized eggs are the same as unfertilized except for a tiny difference in the white dot. Taste and texture are identical. What makes the difference is IF the hens starts sitting on them for several days. If you collect eggs every day it's not a problem at all.

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
They were not just spots, they were more clots, and had texture to them.

New layers, still adjusting to the process. No point in trying to hatch those out anyway.

 

[magoochie]

Yeah I know we need to lower the ratio of roosters to hens. We intended on butchering before the snow fell. But we got almost 6 inches before Thanksgiving and it never melted.

Then we decided to see how big of a pain it was to keep chickens through a Wisconsin winter.

We are going to get them separated this spring when we build the new coop. We've come to actually like the roosters. None of them are mean. We also want to get a bator in a couple months after we start building the new coop.

I will just keep pulling the eggs everyday. If I put them in the fridge, they should be fine to eat right? Even if they are fertilized?

 

[magoochie]

Quote:
They were not just spots, they were more clots, and had texture to them.

New layers, still adjusting to the process. No point in trying to hatch those out anyway.

OK, sorry I probably sound like an idiot. But I have never done this before.

 

[Attila the Hen]

Ok -- correct me if I am wrong BUT I understand eggs can sit outside for days before a clutch is created and the eggs only start developing once the hen sits on them. During that time they don't go bad. Many people say you shouldn't refridgerate eggs and they will keep for weeks inside--even in the summer. I put mine in the fridge and they will keep for weeks that way also. Eggs aren't as perishible as one might think.
Again, your chickens would love it if you cook the eggs you won't eat and give it to them.

 

[magoochie]

If the eggs will keep in the fridge if I pull them everyday, we will eat them.

The first few, like i said, had blood etc. the yolk. Kinda freaked us out that we might be cracking babies into the frying pan!

 

[LarryPQ]

Nah. Just hiccups in the hens' systems. Remember how it was when you became a hen? Like that, only daily.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote:
I agree! Don't let chicks hatch until you are ready and give the chickens total wind protection. They really can't stay warm with wind whistling through their feathers stealing their body heat.

 

[greenriver]

I always break eggs into a seperate container before using, just a habit. You'll know if you ever break a bad one. From time to time I will find an egg misplaced from the usual egg laying location. I keep undated eggs refrigerated until I have enough to boil to give back to them.

Culinarily, there is no difference in a fertilized and unfertilized egg unless you allow them to begin setting.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote:
Blood spots don't have anything to do with the roosters. Google it and you will see! Here is a thread that will help:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=16008