Chicken Rule #21: You don't need a rooster to have eggs...

Don't feel bad if you didn't know this simple fact. 
Think of it like this an egg is a potential chick. Almost every day the chicken produces an egg, but it just that an egg (ovum). 

1. Ovum: a mature female reproductive cell, especially of a human or other animal, that can divide to give rise to an embryo usually only after fertilization by a male cell.
2. 
   

If you have a rooster who ummm...fertilizes the egg before it is laid then it is possible to have baby chickens. 
In fact, I hadn't planned on even getting a rooster at first. But, Dudley-Did-Right needed a new home and roosters are handy. Ever vigilant he spends a lot of time watching the surroundings and the skies. He basically is the protector, he maintains order in the flock. A watchman who sounds the alarms and would lay down his life for the flock.
As a society we have gotten away from knowing much about our food sources. i want to help connect the dots again.