Chicken Birds and Bees - dumb beginner question

[koko365]

Not long ago I introduced myself here on Backyard Chickens. I had 2 free range hens and a rooster move into the large tree in my backyard and I decided to make a coop for them. Of course, as soon as the coop was made and put in place (not really painted yet), the three went away... sometimes they would come back a few days later, sometimes not. I had posted at one time that my neighborhood was silent and they were all gone. However, lately one hen does come back to visit every few days.

Then last weekend I discovered 4 eggs in the coop! I was so thrilled. I left one in the coop. I gave two away to the people who helped me build the coop and I ate one. (It was delicious). One of the guys who I gave an egg to grew up in South America and always had chickens. Anyway, he told me a story this week, but I just don't know if it's fact or fiction. I could use your expertise to understand this and to understand Chicken Sex!

He told me that chickens lay eggs...(obviously), and that they wait until they lay 10 to 12 of them to sit or brood on them to incubate and hatch. If you take the eggs away for whatever reason, they don't hatch, but he claims that "fertilization and timing" is wholly inside the chicken and is unfathomable?

I don't get it.
Doesn't the egg have to be fertilized to hatch? And how do you tell the difference between a fertilized egg and an unfertilized egg?

There doesn't seem to be any nearby roosters.... although I'm sure there are a couple of wild cocks in the city... (laughing). Should I eat these eggs? Should I let 10 or 12 eggs add up and let her have chicks? Do I have a choice? Will the eggs just go bad? As of today there are now 8 eggs in the coop.

 

[julianna47]

You do need a rooster to have fertilized eggs. You may not know if they are fertile simply by looking at them, but it doesn’t matter anyway because they are perfectly fine to eat. It is true that a hen intending to hatch eggs will lay an egg every day or so until she has a “clutch” of them to sit on. When she begins to sit in earnest with out leaving they will all begin to develop at once. They will hatch on the same day 21 days later.

 

[julianna47]

I’d leave em. See if she comes back in the next few days and sits on them. If she does, them just make sure she has food and water near her, because she won’t leave once she starts sitting

 

[Shadrach]

He told me that chickens lay eggs...(obviously), and that they wait until they lay 10 to 12 of them to sit or brood on them to incubate and hatch. If you take the eggs away for whatever reason, they don't hatch, but he claims that "fertilization and timing" is wholly inside the chicken and is unfathomable?

Well, he is actually correct. The hen can decide whether or not to allow the roosters sperm to reach the egg. So in effect she can control her fertility and timing.
https://www.livescience.com/15828-chickens-eject-sperm.html
There is also some debate regarding a hens ability to release stored sperm at will (?)
Here the clutch size that the hens seem to prefer before they will sit is 8 and above.

 

[so lucky]

Well, he is actually correct. The hen can decide whether or not to allow the roosters sperm to reach the egg. So in effect she can control her fertility and timing.
https://www.livescience.com/15828-chickens-eject-sperm.html
There is also some debate regarding a hens ability to release stored sperm at will (?)
Here the clutch size that the hens seem to prefer before they will sit is 8 and above.

I have never heard this before, about rejecting sperm of the looser roosters! Interesting!

 

[AquaDuck]

Eggs won't start developing until they're warmed up to a certain temperature over a period of time. Birds lay one egg every day until they have their clutch and then they start brooding. Chickens and other domestic poultry, however, are bred to lay eggs regardless of broodiness.
The eggs get fertilized inside the hen, but the development of the fetus won't start until temperature is added. Fertilized eggs taste just like unfertilized ones, the only difference is a tiny sperm cell.

If you don't have a rooster or fertile eggs, you shouldn't let your hen go broody. Make sure you collect eggs often and enjoy them for breakfast!

 

[aart]

I would not leave eggs in the coop.
Use fake eggs if you want to try to stimulate her to go broody by piling egg,
but it's not often successful.

You can open egg and look at yolk to determine if it is fertile or not.

 

[chickens really]

Well...Without a Rooster the eggs will not be fertile. Eating fertile eggs is no different than non fertile eggs..
Definitely break the Broody Hens if not allowing her to hatch out Chicks is the best recommendation.

 

[koko365]

I would not leave eggs in the coop.
Use fake eggs if you want to try to stimulate her to go broody by piling egg,
but it's not often successful.

You can open egg and look at yolk to determine if it is fertile or not.
View attachment 1819603

Thank you so much for sharing the photo of the fertilized and unfertilized eggs! Wow. It's really helpful to see and understand the difference.

 

[koko365]

Well, he is actually correct. The hen can decide whether or not to allow the roosters sperm to reach the egg. So in effect she can control her fertility and timing.
https://www.livescience.com/15828-chickens-eject-sperm.html
There is also some debate regarding a hens ability to release stored sperm at will (?)
Here the clutch size that the hens seem to prefer before they will sit is 8 and above.

Wow! That's fascinating!