Ok. I hope this question goes under this topic, as It seemed to be the most applicable. So, when the chickens mate, how long does the sperm stay alive in there & therefore the hen's able to produce fertile eggs? Like, if they mate, then the eggs are considered to be fertile for the next 2 days, a week, etc. before she's need to be exposed to the rooster again in order to keep getting good hatching eggs? I have a couple hens I'm giving as pets to my niece, & they don't really want to eat the eggs (I know- I have no idea why not!), & so I thought i could just let her "come visit" my guy(s) every so often, & then I could collect the fertile eggs from them so they aren't wasted. Or if that's a hassle, we'll just eat them for them! Yum...