roosters and chick integration

[farrider387]

I have two questions. At what age and/or method should I integrate my new chicks with the adults. Second, I've never had roosters before, only pullets. How does this effect the eggs? Do I have to check them before eating? Will the eggs look the same when you crack them open?

 

[bangor777]

I don't know about your first question, but I do know the answer to your second. With a rooster in the coop you will have fertile eggs, fine to eat, taste the same, only difference is a telltale bullseye (faint) appearance to the yolk. Someone posted some awesome pictures of fertile eggs recently, the post was about finding fertile eggs a month after no roo. Maybe I can find it for you. hope that helps!

 

[arlee453]

You and your customers will never know the difference between fertile and infertile eggs.

The only sign is the bullseye mentioned earlier, but you have to: A) know what to look for and B) look VERY closely to even notice it.

And, BTW, one old wives tale is that eggs with meatspots or blood spots in them mean the egg is fertile - that is not true. Meat and blood spots have nothing to do with fertility of the egg and can appear occasionally in infertile or fertile eggs.

 

[ruby]

I have a separate pen for my younger chicks. I let them out when they are close to the same size as the big girls. They can see each other and talk now. Soon I will let the 'little sisters' out in the late evening, help them find a roost. Then in the morning they might not know the difference. Most of the time the younger girls stay to them selves. Like a click, we hated in high school.

 

[joebryant]

Quote:
Ya wanna talk about ignorance? I'm seventy years old, and until two weeks ago while reading a book about chickens, all my life I thought that the white spots near the yolk was rooster sperm/semen; used to cut it out of the egg before frying/scrambling, too gross. I had never heard nor known anyone else who knew that those two white spots were the original cords on the two ends of the egg that held the yolk in the center of the egg until the egg/shell was cracked open. I've known lots of people who did the same thing I did. I was really surprised to learn that in order to tell if the egg was fertile when it's in the skillet is look for a tiny little dot on both sides of the yolk. Like I said, "Ya wanna talk about ignorance?"

 

[Vamp-A-Billy Princess]

I always thought the white was embryonic tissue til I read about the cords too!! Haha.