new to raising

[cembry1]

I have never had a rooster before and always just used the eggs for eating, I am now going to get a rooster and try to have the hens also raise some chicks, I am a bit confused in reading some articles, is there an easy way to keep track of which eggs to pull for eating and which to leave in the nests. And if i pull all eggs daily and refrigerate if some are fertilized it wont matter ??

 

[sumi]

If you have a broody hen you can mark her eggs with a pencil or a sharpie, so you'll know which eggs are hers and can easily pick out any fresh eggs. But it would be easier if you can stop the other hens laying in her nest!
You can encourage broodiness by leaving some (marked) eggs or fake eggs in the nest boxes, but it depends on the individual hens if they're going to fall for it or not.
It would be better not to hatch eggs after putting them in the fridge. Hatching eggs have a better chance of developing after storing them at room temperature for ideally no longer than 7 days.

 

[cembry1]

If i accidently put fertilized eggs in the fridge they wont develop though right and can still be eaten. I guess i dont understand the time frame. I know this probably sounds like an idiotic question but never had to worry about it before.

 

[sumi]

That's not an idiotic question! We all started off by knowing nothing and we learned as we went along. And asking questions is a good way to learn.
Yes, you can still eat them. Fertile eggs needs to be keep at around 98*F for a few hours before they start developing, so don't worry about opening an egg and finding a chick

I know that is a worry for many people. As for storing eggs for hatching: Some members here have taken eggs from the fridge and hatched them, but it depends on exactly how cold your fridge is. I've read that temperatures under 30*F kills the "embryo". So I wouldn't recommend it it you want to be are you'll get good hatch rates, or if you are storing valuable eggs. Eggs can be stored up to 14 days before hatching, but after day 7 their chance of developing drops significantly. Here's an interesting article on egg storage for hatching eggs if you're interested:

http://www.pasreform.com/academy/fr...atching-eggs/16-storage-of-hatching-eggs.html