um... I have a stupid question

[jcasey829]

So obviously they didnt teach me about chicken sex in school, so I'm curious to know...
When the hen lays an egg and she is housed in a coop with a rooster does that mean the egg is fertilized? I have a beautiful cochin that laid an egg and I wanted to leave it to hatch, but she doesnt sit on it at all so I'm guessing it's not gonna hatch. If it's not here by next week I know it wont hatch bc it will have been waaay over 21 days. Anyway, I have an incubator so I could take a new one from the nest and go that route... that's to say if it is fertilized lol I usually take them away for consumption anyway, maybe thats why she isnt nesting any longer? She has also stopped laying. One of my girls lays in the same nest as her so could that be the problem? Okay now I did 20 questions on chicken egg laying, but the main question is the one I'm most curious about... oh please teach the chicken rookie about chicken 'relations' lololol
Thanks in advance

 

[SterlingAcres]

If you have a roo, the eggs are most likely fertile. You can't force her to go broody, so just incubate the eggs. If they've stopped laying for a short period of time, it could be the heat.

Good luck.

 

[silkiechicken]

Chances are they are fertile.

Being broody and setting is hormonal, can't force it, they do it when they want.

Go ahead and use an incubator and do it artificially, some girls never hatch eggs.

 

[Kesta]

propably is the roo mating the girl if so chances are its fertile after a few days you should be able to tell via candling you take a strong flashlight and put it up to the long side of the egg if you see what looks like veins its fertile

 

[monarc23]

yeah they're more than likely fertile (as long as you dont ahve too many hens per one rooster) but roosters are pretty good at getting their job done if ya know what i mean lol....

and yeah if a hen has decided she doesnt want to be broody anymore it's amlost impossible to convince them otherwise tho some have been lucky!

 

[shmooborp]

ok

so here is the delio.. the egg that u left is not going to hatch. if she didnt sit on it it wont hatch. siting on eggs is called being broody, and is not something u can really make a hen do.. they just decide they want to when they want to. usually a fertile egg is good for about a week if kept right. since u have a roo there is a good chance u have fertile eggs. so if u colect eggs for a few days and then put them in a cool room ( not the fridge) and then when ready put them in the incubator. the temp in the incubator should be about 99.5 to 100*F and humidity should be about 40s to 50 for the first 18 days. turn the eggs aleast 3 times a day , for the first 18 days, then stop turning an day 18 and boost humidity to about 60s to 70. they should hatch on day 21 or so. hope this helps

 

[jcasey829]

wow thanks so much for the quick replies

Good info to know! I'm so glad I found this board

Thanks again!

 

[monarc23]

Quote:
this place is awesome annnnnddd

 

[chickenfanatic]

i will add we have had problems breeding some of the cochins because the feathers around the vent can tend to get in the way a nice trim around there does help alot but they are most likely fertile just a helpful hint and yes