Why have a rooster at all?

[Delmar]

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So basically the chick, in the fertilized egg, doesn't grow if the egg isn't kept warm. Is that correct?

 

[jasonm11]

It takes something like 25 days for a fertilized egg to become a chick if the egg is properly cared for.

 

[Delmar]

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But how long does it take it to look really gross, if you crack one open?

 

[deerman]

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?????????25 days.........no its 21 days

 

[deerman]

Quote:
But how long does it take it to look really gross, if you crack one open?

First they much be at 99 degree, so if you gather eggs every day you will never have any......

 

[Judy]

Quote:
But how long does it take it to look really gross, if you crack one open?

The chick will not even begin to develop unless the egg is incubated. That means either a hen sets on it essentially 24/7, or you put it in an incubator somewhere around 95 or 100 degrees F. In Europe they don't even refrigerate eggs, they sell them off the shelf. They do keep longer if refrigerated, though.

Granted, if you don't collect eggs but once or twice a week, and it is fertile, and a hen has been setting on it, it could have begun to develop. Many of us with roosters crack our eggs into a small bowl before use. I do this, in case an egg was hiding in the straw for a few days. Although I have had chickens for years, and have yet to crack an egg and find a partly developed hick.

 

[Judy]

double post, sorry

 

[Rowtag]

I think my roosters are great, and while I have a few people who won't even take eggs from because they are fertilized (I laugh because the ones from the store I cracked a few days ago were fertilized as well), the boys keep the girls safe. I have been fighting a few foxes for months now and one of my roosters actually chased the fox off (the banty actually). My standard roo always has his eye to the sky if they are free ranging and one word from him and they are all back in the run.

 

[Ridgerunner]

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But how long does it take it to look really gross, if you crack one open?

Yes, it is about 21 days for chickens to develop and hatch after incubation starts.

It takes about 16 to 20 hours at incubation temperatures for anything to become visible to the naked eye if you crack the egg. Even then you have to be looking for it. If you gather the eggs every day after all the eggs are laid, you will be fine. Even if a hen lays an egg under a broody at 7:00 in the morning and you gather the eggs at 6:00 p.m. that same day, that is only 11 hours and you will not see anything.

I also crack any egg in a separate bowl just in case, but I have never had a problem with an egg developing to where I can see it.

 

[gryeyes]

Regarding fertilized eggs, there is no chick without incubation. I have roosters in my flock, and I set the eggs I gather right in a basket on the counter. Some I sell, some I eat. Igather eggs daily....sometimes my duck hides her eggs, so it could be three days old before I find those eggs.

They would have to have a hen sit on 'em 24/7 for a few daYs before ANYthing would be visible, in regards to developing a chick.