New Rooster & Question About Collecting Eggs

[KimPahl]

Hi all! I know these questions are going to sound really dumb so I apologize in advance!!

This year we are new to having chickens. We are getting a rooster tomorrow b/c we want more chickens for more eggs. He will be in quarantine for a few weeks so by the time he gets around our 3 girls it will probably be close to the end of February.

So here are my dumb questions:

1) I assume, if we still want to collect some eggs to eat, that we continue to collect every morning like always. Should we check them first to be sure they aren't fertilized? I've heard of a "candle" method where I assume you hold a candle up and you would see a certain something? I don't want to be cracking an egg open only to find a fetus! LOL.

2) I've never had any of my 3 girls sit on the eggs before for very long. They lay and off they go. So, will they become broody with a rooster around? What is it that makes them broody? And I would also assume, if we want to allow her to hatch her eggs, that we would just leave her alone and let he do her thing.

Sorry, this is all new to us!!! Thanks for any help!

 

[junebuggena]

Hi all! I know these questions are going to sound really dumb so I apologize in advance!!

This year we are new to having chickens. We are getting a rooster tomorrow b/c we want more chickens for more eggs. He will be in quarantine for a few weeks so by the time he gets around our 3 girls it will probably be close to the end of February.

So here are my dumb questions:

1) I assume, if we still want to collect some eggs to eat, that we continue to collect every morning like always. Should we check them first to be sure they aren't fertilized? I've heard of a "candle" method where I assume you hold a candle up and you would see a certain something? I don't want to be cracking an egg open only to find a fetus! LOL.

2) I've never had any of my 3 girls sit on the eggs before for very long. They lay and off they go. So, will they become broody with a rooster around? What is it that makes them broody? And I would also assume, if we want to allow her to hatch her eggs, that we would just leave her alone and let he do her thing.

Sorry, this is all new to us!!! Thanks for any help!

1. There really is no difference between a fertile egg and an infertile egg. Fertile eggs will not spontaneously develop. It takes about 3 days of being kept at a near constant 100*F for an egg to start showing visible signs of development, and it will only be some slight veining, not a partially developed embryo.
2. Having a rooster around will not cause your hens to go broody. Hens go broody all the time without ever having seen a rooster in their entire lives. It's determined by hormones. Some breeds have had broodiness bred out of them almost completely. Other breeds are practically famous for being broody.

 

[KimPahl]

Ok well that's good to know about the eggs. We have 2 red sex links and 1 leghorn. They are about 1 year old so they are still young. Thanks!

 

[junebuggena]

Ok well that's good to know about the eggs. We have 2 red sex links and 1 leghorn. They are about 1 year old so they are still young. Thanks!

Sexlinks don't tend to be broody, but it does happen occasionally. Broodiness in Leghorns has been nearly completely bred out of them.

 

[KimPahl]

Oh great! So what that sounds like is that we will be needing to do the hatching ourselves?? We want them to do the work for us which is why we don't want to get day old chicks in the first place. Bummer.

 

[KimPahl]

I've read that allowing the hen to gather a large clutch of eggs will cause broodiness in almost any hen. Physiologically they need this to go broody. Has anyone had any success with this?

 

[junebuggena]

I've read that allowing the hen to gather a large clutch of eggs will cause broodiness in almost any hen. Physiologically they need this to go broody. Has anyone had any success with this?

Not true at all. Hens will go broody even if you collect daily, if she's prone to going broody. Having a bunch of eggs sitting will not make a hen go broody if she isn't already genetically predisposed to going broody.