oops, we have a rooster...

[mindywebster]

Hello, I'm a newbie on here as well as a newbie chicken owner ( my daughter's chickens)
we got 6 darling chicks back in APRIL..2 light brahmas, 2 easter eggers, and 2 little bantams at the feed store ( still no eggs tho) we love them all.... but we found out 3 months ago that one little Bantam is a rooster.
we wanted eggs ONLY, not baby chicks. He is a cutie and social, kinda noisy and demanding tho :0. We got attached to him
We are open to getting rid of him tho if we need to.
So my question right now is how do we get fresh eggs without them turning into chicks!!

Thank you...excited to learn more as we go through you all

 

[Kelsie2290]

Just don't let them be incubated / sat on for any length of time / brooded by your hens. As long as you collect eggs everyday you will be fine. There is no problem eating fertile eggs and most people can't tell the difference just looking at them.

 

[ChickensRDinos]

As long as the eggs are not sitting above 85 degrees for any consistent length of time then chicks will never form. So as you as you don't get a broody or an incubator you should be fine,

 

[AmericanMom]

Hello, I'm a newbie on here as well as a newbie chicken owner ( my daughter's chickens)
we got 6 darling chicks back in APRIL..2 light brahmas, 2 easter eggers, and 2 little bantams at the feed store ( still no eggs tho) we love them all.... but we found out 3 months ago that one little Bantam is a rooster.
we wanted eggs ONLY, not baby chicks. He is a cutie and social, kinda noisy and demanding tho :0. We got attached to him
We are open to getting rid of him tho if we need to.
So my question right now is how do we get fresh eggs without them turning into chicks!!

Thank you...excited to learn more as we go through you all

Collect them and refrigerate them, babies cannot start growing til they reach a certian temp. I gather eggs three times a day in the summer

 

[mindywebster]

Wonderful ! Thank you all
Another question...
I hear that hens will not lay in winter ( very cold ) unless you have a heat lamp?
One friend told me no need for a lamp for heating ... Fine, but we would love eggs year round.
So lamp= eggs in winter or eggs regardless ??

 

[bobbi-j]

First year pullets will lay throughout the winter without a heat lamp. Some people will add supplemental light, but not necessarily heat. It's actually better not to have a heat lamp in the coop in the winter. When you do that, they don't acclimate to the cold, and if you lose electricity they have no heat lamp, and they haven't grown their "winter coat" so to speak.

 

[Kelsie2290]

In the winter hens will lay better with Light (not heat), 14-16 hours of daylight is what is usually recommended. Young hens/pullets will usually lay through their first winter with or without light, older ones will lay more with light, especially any of the good laying breeds. You do tend to shorten the lifespan of the chickens if you "push" them to lay eggs year round, since they never get any time off. If you intend to rotate your chickens and get new ones every couple of years, then use light to get the most eggs in that time span. If you intend to keep the chickens for their entire lives, don't use light and they won't lay as many eggs each year, but will probably keep laying more as they get older.

 

[ChickensRDinos]

It is just a light to simulate a longer day--not heat.