I do not have the chickens, but a friend of mine does and she believes that hens can lay eggs with laying pellets and not have any roosters..I just want to find out so I can help her out with more information. Chickens can and do lay eggs without roosters. If you can have a rooster and would like one, it’s important to make sure he is well behaved. Unfertilized eggs never hatch, but they are sold as food. The egg laying process continues whether or not a rooster provides enough sperm for fertilization . Roosters … While I have given you a few good reasons on why you do need a rooster for chickens to lay eggs, at the end of the day, a hen will still lay an egg without having a rooster around. No, y our hens are perfectly capable of laying eggs without a rooster.You do, however, need a rooster if you want baby chicks to hatch from eggs gathered from your backyard hens. The shell forms and hardens in the shell gland, and the egg is ready to be laid. This is one of the main reasons homesteaders that live in tighter spaces are able to have chickens. Any truth to this? Why some hens laid blue eggs was a mystery that was not unraveled until 2013 following the mapping of the chicken genome. You don't need a rooster for your hens to lay eggs, but a rooster is needed to fertilize the eggs to hatch them into baby chicks, but hens will lay just as many eggs whether there's a rooster … Different breeds of chickens lay different amounts of eggs over the course of a year. After mating, enough sperm may remain in the hen to fertilize her eggs for a week or more. If you do have a rooster but collect the eggs daily and keep them in a cool place before using them, they won’t develop into chicks. You do not need a rooster to get eggs to eat. Chickens lay eggs as long as they believe they need more to form a proper brood. When a hen is old enough to lay eggs, she will do … A chicken cannot tell if an individual egg has been successfully fertilized or not. This is one of the main reasons homesteaders that live in tighter spaces are able to have chickens. Hens can lay eggs without a rooster as long as they attain the right age to do so. Hens don’t need a rooster in order to lay eggs. Do chickens need a rooster to lay eggs? For some reason, chickens break the mold and lay them every day. Without a rooster, the eggs are infertile, so won’t develop into young chicks. Join Backyard Poultry magazine in our video series, Chickens in a Minute, as we answer frequently asked questions about how to raise a healthy backyard chicken flock.This week’s video addresses a question many new chicken owners have, do chickens need a rooster to lay eggs? If you only want to eat your eggs, then the answer is NO! This is a common misconception. When deciding which chickens to buy, this is something you will want to check for each breed you are considering. It was found that certain breeds (Araucana, Dongxiang and Lushi) had been infected with a … I'm inclined to keep our rooster, although watching his mating behavior can be a little nerve-wracking. Thanks, Russ Roosters are needed for chickens to lay fertile eggs, from which new chickens can hatch. Hens will lay eggs regardless of whether or not they are being kept in the company of a rooster. Do you need a rooster to get eggs to eat? The presence of a rooster among your flock of birds is necessary for various reasons. Watch Time < 1 minute. Plus, nothing beats a rooster for sheer beauty and can be a great addition, assuming your neighbors allow it. Add to Favorites . If you have questions about how a chicken lays eggs, we've got answers. So, if you’ve been putting off getting a backyard flock because your town doesn’t allow cockerels and you think you need one to get eggs, you can breathe a bit easier. While I have given you a few good reasons on why you do need a rooster for chickens to lay eggs, at the end of the day, a hen will still lay an egg without having a rooster around. The answer is no. Can chickens lay eggs without a rooster? Once she does lay, she's ready to start forming a new egg.