Q: Do you need a rooster to have eggs?
A: No, your hens don’t need roosters to help them produce eggs. Female animals of all species produce eggs. The real question is whether the eggs have been fertilized or not. Fortunately for us, female chickens will lay eggs whether or not they are fertilized. Without a rooster, the eggs you harvest will be unfertilized, but they will taste and look exactly the same as fertile eggs.
Q: Why, then, do people have roosters?
A: Good question. A really good question! Roosters are noisy. They may crow loudly at any time of day. That’s why many urban chicken ordinances outlaw roosters. They can also be very aggressive. Most people who dislike chickens have a childhood story about being attacked by roosters.
If you want to have fertile eggs, however, so that you can hatch your own chicks, you will need a rooster to get that job done. A hen that has laid fertile eggs will tend them, and they will hatch without much attention on your part. And the chicks will be accepted as part of the flock.
Finally, roosters love their hens and will protect their harem from predators — that is, unless the predator is big enough to kill or chase off the rooster.
Q: Do eggs of different colors have different flavors or different health benefits?
A: Nope. Eggs of the same size, regardless of color, have the same calories and health benefits. Eggs of any color will taste just the same.
Q: Where do the different egg colors come from?
A: The genetic heritage of the hen determines the color of the eggshell. The shades may vary somewhat according to the hen’s diet that week. The color is laid down as each egg’s shell is developing inside the hen.
The one exception to that is the very dark brown color of eggs from Marans. That dark coating is a superficial layer that is applied as the egg moves through the oviduct. The longer it takes to move through the oviduct, the darker the egg will be.
Q: How many eggs will a chicken lay?
A: I’ve read that a hen can lay one egg as frequently as every 25 hours. An Australorp set a world record of 364 eggs in a year. But most hens will lay three to five eggs per week, tops.
Hens are at their most productive in their second year of life. Their productivity is at a plateau for the next year or two, and then slowly their productivity slows down for three or four years until they are producing only one egg a week, and then none.
Q: What are the advantages of backyard eggs?
A: All foods — eggs, produce, meats, and so on — decline in quality from the instant they are harvested. You will never buy an egg that is as fresh, nutritious, and delicious as one harvested from your backyard mere hours after it has been laid. If your hens are eating bugs, weeds, and kitchen scraps, then the whites will be thicker, the yolks darker, and the combination more appetizing than with store-bought eggs.
Chickens getting a varied diet may lay eggs that contain half the cholesterol of store-bought eggs. Eggs from backyard birds may also have twice as much or more of vitamin E, beta-carotene, and omega-3 fatty acids as factory eggs.
Q: Do I need to harvest the eggs right after they are laid and refrigerate them?
A: No. Freshly laid eggs are covered with a coating from the oviduct called a “bloom,” which keeps the eggs fresh for up to a month without refrigeration. If you are on vacation the eggs can wait in the nest box until your return. They will still be fresh and safe to eat.
Q: Some eggs are dirty. How should I wash them?
A: Wipe off the dirt, which is most likely poop, with a DRY paper towel and store the eggs on the countertop. You don’t have to wash them until you are ready to cook them. There is a small chance that the feces may have salmonella (probably not, but you may want to play it safe). Wash that egg, and your hands, before cracking it.
If you wash the egg as soon as you harvest it, then you’ll also be washing off the bloom that keeps a room-temperature egg fresh. Washed eggs must be stored in the fridge.
Q: Will hens ever eat their own eggs?
A: It’s rare for a hen to intentionally break an egg to eat it. But if an egg unintentionally breaks in the nest box, almost any hen will sample and eat the yolk, whites, and even the shell. This is called egg cannibalism, and it’s a habit you don’t want to see get started. If it does start, you want to break it right away by harvesting eggs as quickly as possible.
You may also need to isolate the offending hen in a separate pen, such as one made from a large dog crate. Even if you can’t stop her from eating her own eggs, the other hens’ eggs aren’t at risk and hopefully the others won’t pick up the offender’s bad habits.
Q: How do I know if an egg is too old to eat?
A: As eggs get older, they lose some moisture through the mildly porous shell. That moisture is replaced by air. A common test for the freshness of eggs is to put them in a pot filled with water. An older egg with less moisture and more air will float in the water, and the fresher ones will roll around on the bottom. Floating just means the egg is older, not necessarily that it has gone bad.
I recommend cracking the floating eggs outdoors. If they don’t stink, then they are fine to eat. An egg will smell rotten if anaerobic bacteria — which survive without oxygen inside the egg — have started to decompose the egg itself. If any eggs do emit the sulfurous fumes of a rotten egg, toss them in the trash or in a rodentproof compost bin where the aerobic bacteria will quickly overcome the stinky anaerobic bacteria.
Q: Why are some eggs larger or smaller?
A: To some degree the size of the egg is determined by the size of the hen, but it is also determined by her diet and health that week. Just like people, hens can have a busy or bad week of being henpecked, and their productivity, in terms of egg size, may go down temporarily. In most cases, undersized or oddly shaped eggs are temporary issues.
Q: Sometimes there are speckles or raised spots on the eggs my hen lays. Should I worry about that?
A: Nothing to worry about. Speckles are just an indication of some variation in diet or health that week for that hen. The same goes for raised spots or oddly shaped eggs. Humans don’t always look or feel their best every week: allergies, acne, and so on affect us all. But we get over it, and in most cases your hens will, too.
Q: Do hens lay eggs sitting down?
A: No. They stand up at the last minute and let the egg drop. That’s why filling nest boxes with soft bedding is important.