rooster without fertilized eggs?

[katydidit]

Total newbie here...

I am planning to start my first coop, and would love to add a rooster to the flock... but I have a (probably very obvious) question...

If I have a rooster, will all of the eggs become fertilized and not usable for eating? How does this work?

And how do I prevent having too many chicks??

 

[BrattishTaz]

Quote:

and

If the rooster mates with your hens then you will have fertile eggs. The eggs are still perfectly fine to eat. Unless you look very closely, you will not even notice the difference.

If you don't want to have chicks then you simply collect the eggs everyday. You only leave eggs if you want chicks.

 

[katydidit]

is there a way to tell if the egg is fertilized (if I were to want to hatch the chick instead of eating the egg?)


And thank you!

 

[BrattishTaz]

Another BYC member posted this info. It has photos of fertile and non-fertile eggs. You do have to crack the egg to see if it is fertile. Checking a few will let you know if your rooster is doing his job or not.

I hope this link works!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=16008