A rooster is not required for your chickens to lay eggs. Your hens will lay as much as eggs with or without a rooster around. However, a rooster is required to fertilize the eggs, and get chicks. If you are not looking for baby chickens and want to keep the chickens for eggs only, you have to keep the hens well fed.
Although, there is some importance of keeping roosters in the chicken pen. So if you have decided to keep some hens in your backyard you can also consider adding a rooster to the team. Other than that. Let’s explore the topic of non-fertilized chicken eggs.
Do hens need a rooster to lay eggs (do chickens have to be pregnant to lay eggs)
Chicken does not need a rooster to lay eggs. A rooster only fertilizes the eggs which will develop an egg into a baby chicken. If you have a rooster, but you want to collect eggs every day, then you need to keep them in a cool place before you cook them. This will prevent the egg to produce chicks.
You can always breed chicken in your backyard, but it can be a bit problematic. This is because when you allow the chickens to raise chicks, this means there will be many roosters. It’s fine to keep the young roosters together when they are young.
But when they grow up, they will start to fight and get hurt. You can decide to kill some male roosters but be kind.
How eggs are formed inside the hen (how do chickens lay eggs without a rooster?)
If you are curious about do hens need a rooster to lay eggs, then you must know how chicken eggs are formed. The reproductive system of chickens has an oviduct and an ovary. Hens are usually born with two ovaries, but gradually one will become non-functional.
The remaining one will be responsible for the eggs. The development of eggs takes almost 24 to 48 hours, and the yolk is created in the ovary. It gets ejected into the first section of the oviduct, which is known as the infundibulum. Fertilization takes place in this area when the chicken is mated. After the mating ritual, the sperm from the rooster goes to the infundibulum, where it fertilizes the new yolk.
After half an hour, the eggs go to the oviduct, then to the magnum where the white of the eggs forms. After almost three hours the egg white takes a thick form and the egg travels to the oviduct.
The next part is the isthmus, where the outer and inner shells are formed. The egg white develops, and the eggshell develops within an hour or two. After the egg leaves the isthmus, it goes to the uterus and stays there for 18 to 24 hours while the harder part develops. Once the eggshell is created, it’s shoved through the vulva to exit the chicken’s body.
How does a rooster fertilize an egg?
A rooster will fertilize eggs of up to ten chickens. He has to mate with a hen for his sperm to enter the oviduct and fertilize the eggs that the hen is about to lay in some days. If you want to increase the size of the flock, you need to keep a rooster and ensure that the chickens and the rooster are engaging.
When spring comes roosters become more active for mating rituals, and they court the hens. They mostly use two processes, tidbitting and rooster dance.
What is a tidbitting rooster?
Tidbitting, also known as “rooster dance”, is a rooster behaviour that combines an excited buck-buck vocalization with a visual, physical display of rhythmic movement of the head and neck. Sometimes he will pick up food, and drop it to entice hens to join him.
The mating process of chicken and a rooster is quick. After the courtship, the rooster will perch on the back of the chicken and if she complies, she will squat down. A hen will also spread her wings to show her compliance. The male will balance himself on top of her, and once he gets the position, the rooster will drop his tail to offer the cloacal kiss.
A rooster doesn’t have a phallus, but a bump known as the papilla. This is the source of sperms in roosters. The chicken has to extend her body so the sperm can reach the eggs. This way the sperm will fertilize the eggs and the remaining ones will stay in the pockets, from which the eggs will get fertilized in the next batch.
Once the mating ritual is complete the rooster will walk away and the chicken will go on her way. A rooster’s sperm will start to diminish with age, but a rooster will stay active for many years.
How long will chickens lay eggs without a rooster?
If your chickens can mate with a rooster, then the eggs will be fertilized. However, you can eat fresh eggs whether they are unfertilized. If you are collecting eggs after a day or two days later, then it’s impossible to know if the chick has developed inside the egg or not. You have to crack the shell to know it.
There are some small differences between unfertilized and fertilized eggs. There is no change in the flavour or nutrients.
If you want to raise a bigger flock, then you need to give at least 21 days for the incubation of the eggs. The chicken will do it while sitting on the eggs. If the chicken doesn’t sit on the eggs, then you can place them in an incubator and keep them for 21 days.
If you want to consume the fertilized eggs, then you have to collect them daily and keep them in a cool place. This way the embryo will not develop into a chick. Some chickens want to sit on the eggs than others. The situation may follow for other hens too.
If you want to know whether the fresh eggs are fertilized or not, you can check that through a procedure called candling. You have to hold the egg up against bright light and check its contents for opacity and shape. You might get to see the early stages of embryo development.
However, it requires trained eyes to see the changes and understand the differences between unfertilized and fertilized eggs.
To know more about do hens need a rooster to lay eggs, you can ask an expert. Or ask a friend who has a chicken pen in their backyard.
