Which comes first? The Rooster or the Chick?

[Ladybug922]

OK, so I have 17 4 month old chickens and apparently ended up with 1 rooster. (Still not 100% sure, but it's looking more and nore like it each day) I had originally planned on all hens, so now I am a little concerned being a first time chicken owner. My husband is REALLY concerned that all the eggs will be fertilized and we are going to be cracking open embryos all the time. I was under the impression that the hen needed to be broody in order for that to happen. I free range my flock and they like the woods, so as long as he watches out for my girls, he's ok by me, as long as I can convince my husband to still eat the eggs. He's a bit squeamish about the whole embryo thing. I've also been reading a bit and am learning that there are certain temperature requirements, etc that need to be met in order for an embryo to develop. Can someone clarify if all my eggs will, in fact, be fertilized, and under what conditions I am likely to get an embryo? Thanks!

 

[willowbranchfarm]

Hi,

Most likely if your rooster is doing his job all/most of the eggs will be fertilized. That doesn't mean you will have a chick starting to grow. A hen has to sit on the egg for 21 days for it to hatch and even if she sits on the egg the hole day it should be perfectly fine to eat. As long as you are collecting eggs every day you should have nothing to worry about.

 

[donrae]

I say, when he can tell the eggs are fertile you'll worry about it lol.

I have a broody sitting in a communal coop. Other hens occasionally lay in the same box and she adopts the eggs. I go through every few days and toss the eggs that weren't there from the start. I just toss them out for the dogs to eat, but even if she's been sitting on them for 2-3 days I've never seen any embryonic development. I'm not sure how long it takes exactly, but longer than that evidently. I've eaten fertile eggs for 10+ years and never once cracked open a developing egg. Not once, and sometimes I only collect eggs every 2-3 days. Even in the summer heat.

Edited--by this age a roo should be pretty apparent. You might just have an early developing hen. Post a pic and we can tell you one way or the other.