When do chickens Breed?

[savilcr]

if I have a RIR rooster and a few hens, what time of year will they breed and hatch baby chicks? how do I know when to not take eggs out of the nest? will they breed anytime of year?

 

[tec27]

They breed constantly. The rooster is a slut.

 

[eeyore75]

unless the hens go broody (stay on the eggs) take them out to incubate or eat.

hens can be sluts too

 

[The Burg Peeps]

Chickens sit mostly from March to September.
Some breeds can start as young as five months old but most breeds normally begin about 8 to 10 months.
I would wait until 9 months or so at least. Most hens will not allow the advances of the rooster until after the first few eggs have been produced. Most Roosters are ready to breed around 6 months or so. Once fertilized it takes approx. 21 days to hatch. RIR's are not very broody birds so they may not want to sit on their eggs.
When the hens first start laying, usually eggs are NOT fertile; however, after a clutch they are usually fertile. You may still be able to incubate and hatch eggs after proper storage if you take them out within four to five days. They are in a dormant mode.
You can candle the eggs to check for fertility... also look on your hens back... they often have feathers missing from the center of their backs if they have been fertilized by your rooster. You can't tell if an egg is fertilized by candling unless you have incubated it and it's started developing. With practice you can tell by finding the white spot on the yolk. Fertilized eggs will have a clearly defined bulls eye, unfertilized the spot will have a fuzzy look to it.

Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_you_know_if_the_eggs_you_get_from_your_hens_have_been_fertilized#ixzz1SYfAfWxx

Good Luck.