Pardon my dumb question - fertile eggs

[LuLuBelle]

OK, Pardon my dumb question

So my husband and I were wonder, when are girls are old enough to lay eggs, and we want fertle eggs, how does this work. Do we put the rooster and a hen together for an hour a day, a week? Just curious how this works in the chicken world.

Thanks

 

[lux_interior]

more than an hour, but less than a week, I day or two together all day should be good, and they eggs will stay fertile for a couple of weeks

 

[corancher]

I think most of us put the rooster in the pen with whatever hens we want him to breed and leave him with them for how ever long we want fertile eggs from the group. It could be weeks or months but certainly longer than a hour.

 

[LuLuBelle]

And then we would put them in an incubator or let the eggs stay under the mom. And it takes 21 days to hatch, right?

So if a hen lays an egg while in with the rooster then we know its furtle, and if the rooster wasn't involved then it's not furtle. Right?

 

[Debbienmousey]

I would put the rooster in with the hen a couple days before you want to start gathering the eggs. Then leave him with her until you have all the eggs you want.

If you have a broody hen then you can leave the eggs in her nest, all though it's best to set all your eggs at one time. If you do not have a broody hen then an incubator would be the way to go. Yes, it takes about 21 days for chicken eggs to hatch.

Just because the rooster's been in with the hen doesn't mean the eggs are fertile. If you've seen the rooster mate the hen, then the eggs should be fertile. (I'm not sure how long 1 or 2 matings 'last' so to speak.)

If the hen has been separated from the rooster for probably any more then a week, the eggs are most likely not fertile.

 

[LuLuBelle]

Thank you!!

 

[dancingbear]

If you've had a roo in with hens for some time, say several weeks or more, and you remove the roo, the hens will lay fertile eggs for about 3 weeks or more. The longer they go, the fewer of the eggs will be fertile.

If you want to hatch under a hen, read up on recognizing when a hen is broody, marking and setting eggs, etc. Don't just leave eggs and expect a hen to go ahead and hatch them. It doesn't work that way!