4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Tammy27]

I collected my girls 2 weeks ago, they were surrounded by cockerals, could they have been fertilised if so how long will it last? thinking of hatching an egg??

[atsw]

It's possible, but if your two hens are young, any eggs they hatch are very likely to produce cockerels.

 

Andrew

[Lewis]

I don't know your situation but think hard about hatching, it takes quite a bit of planning

 

Eggs can be fertilized for a few weeks after they've been removed from the cockerel.

[Egluntyne]

How old are your hens?

 

Are any broody or do you have an incubator?

[Redwing]

The trouble is that if your hens are POL or just started laying the eggs they produce will not be big enough to incubate, you need a good medium sized egg for that and could run in to problems if you try hatching undersized eggs

 

If your hens are older you could give it a go, I just bought a beautiful hen from a disbanded breeding pen and was mighty tempted to put her eggs in the incubator but resisted it

 

Do think carefully about it, you could end up with cockerels and then you have to think about what to do with them

[craftyhunnypie]

There really is some truth in breeding from young birds. You definitely do get a high ratio of cockerels.

I only tend to breed from mine once they are coming up to a year old - much better birds & I got a girl last time.

Wonder how many of Marlene's chicks are girls?

Don't just jump in because you want a cute chick - plan & look into hatching properly - you have to have arrangements for all the boys that could hatch.

 

Emma.x