BackYard Chickens › BYC Forum › Raising BackYard Chickens › Incubating & Hatching Eggs › How long are hens typically fertile after rooster is removed?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

How long are hens typically fertile after rooster is removed?

post #1 of 4
3/18/12 at 9:27pm
Thread Starter 

So, we lost our rooster Saturday (well, technically we culled him, but it wasn't a choice we wanted to make) and would like to incubate some eggs.  We had been planning on incubating later in the spring, but weren't really storing fertile eggs for hatching yet.  What I would like to know is how long after the rooster is gone can we reasonably expect that the eggs are still fertile? 

 

All of Saturday's eggs and both of the eggs laid today I have saved and marked for incubating.  That leaves me with 8 eggs of known age and 21 eggs that may be up to two weeks old.  I know that the older eggs are less ideal for incubating, but am wondering how long I can collect fresh eggs before it is a futile effort.  We are thinking about setting tomorrow, but if the girls are still likely to be fertile for a few more days we can always push the set date back a little farther.

Reply
Reply
post #2 of 4
3/18/12 at 9:58pm

As you are aware, fertility does start to drop off.  I do know of someone reliable reporting a hen producing an offspring by an unwanted rooster at 5 weeks after separation from that rooster.  I suspect hens are like more animals and more than 1 sperm is required in the fertilization process, though only 1 sperm actually does the fertilizing. 

 

I would think you could collect  for a number of days. Of course that makes your 21 day eggs that much older. Can you do a staggered hatch to make use of all the eggs? And keep adding eggs to the incubator as the hen(s) produce the eggs? 

 

I have done a staggered hatch in one incubator with remarkable success. Following the dry hatch method.  Perhaps you can borrow an incubator , and move eggs over every few days  for lockdown. 

 

GL

NPIP Tested Clean

 

           Eggs available:   Bourbon Red and Sweetgrass Turkeys

             Black Copper Marans, Buff Orpingtons and Speckled Sussex    

D.gif  jumpy.gifD.gif

 

Grow where you are planted. --Unknown

 

Reply

NPIP Tested Clean

 

           Eggs available:   Bourbon Red and Sweetgrass Turkeys

             Black Copper Marans, Buff Orpingtons and Speckled Sussex    

D.gif  jumpy.gifD.gif

 

Grow where you are planted. --Unknown

 

Reply
post #3 of 4
3/19/12 at 4:03am
Thread Starter 

I know, I was just wondering when that drop usually starts.  After all, there's no guarantee that any of those eggs are fertile, we'd never even seen him mount any of the hens (although all the eggs we've cracked for eating lately seem to have had a bulls-eye and he was certainly courting the ladies).  A staggered hatch to catch all of the potentially fertile eggs does sound appealing, but I'd like to avoid it since this will be my first time incubating and I'm already feeling overwhelmed and under-prepared.

Reply
Reply
post #4 of 4
3/19/12 at 4:13am

and just to let you know, there's an elderly man i know whom i have hatched eggs for and he always brings them to me too old in my opinion. he says they are about a month old when he brings them! lol. but i always have good hatch rates with his eggs. so who knows?


Edited by chkinut - 3/19/12 at 9:38am
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Incubating & Hatching Eggs
BackYard Chickens › BYC Forum › Raising BackYard Chickens › Incubating & Hatching Eggs › How long are hens typically fertile after rooster is removed?