How to keep rooster from injuring hens during mating?

[McChooky]

The best part is they can dump the sperm.How Convenient!

 

[3KillerBs]

Brilliant.
I always recommend people wait at least 3 weeks before attempting to hatch from a replacement rooster's mating. If the breed and variety are the same as the previous rooster, there is no guarantee.

The lady who bred them still refuses to believe that they aren't pure Wyandottes. I don't argue with her, they're just part of the mixed flock.

 

[WillowMoonWyandottes]

Most avian species are unique in that they can retain viable sperm at body temperature for a long time after a single mating. It is 2 to 3 weeks in chicken hens and 10 to 15 weeks in turkey hens.
Upon mating, sperm is retained in sperm storage tubules at the junction between the uterus and the vagina. It stays there until the next egg passes, squeezing some out so it can venture up the oviduct to the infundibulum where it is again retained in more tubules until it is able to fertilize the next ovum that drops from the ovary into the infundibulum. Theoretically, some continues to become released from the utero-vaginal junction each time an egg passes.
A cubic millimeter of rooster semen contains 3 to 5 million sperm.

Last paragraph in the oviduct section.
https://poultry.extension.org/articles/poultry-anatomy/avian-reproductive-female/
More info.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3944358/

That’s amazing, thanks for the info!

 

[Poultrybonkers]

The lady who bred them still refuses to believe that they aren't pure Wyandottes. I don't argue with her, they're just part of the mixed flock.

If that was true then my black split lavender wyandottes are pure lol ill just call them black wyandottes lol

 

[CJONESFAY]

I’m starting to have an issue with my rooster cutting my hens badly during mating, what are ways I can stop this from happening? I’m hatching chicks from them now so I didn’t want to have to separate the rooster but of course I’ve separated the injured hens. It just keeps happening and I’m not sure what the best approach is. My rooster is around 8 months old so he is pretty young and he has 6 hens with him that are the same age. Honestly he isn’t an aggressive rooster and doesn’t seem to be over breeding. Will filing his nails help or does he just need more experience to breed them properly?

yep are you de spurring your roosters that can help and just keep chicks separate in area they can see them but not get to them ....eventually they just accept new ones

 

[Shahnaz13]

On YouTube you find a chanel "English country life" were Fiona explains why and how to use a saddle :

 

[JHH3]

I've had similar problems, mine caused by spurs (even if they're relatively blunt) slipping off the bird on one side or the other. This is exacerbated if the hen in question doesn't want to be mated and struggles to escape.

Saddles will help and I've found that even with really bad gashes they heal up just fine, this after discovering the gash days later because it was hidden by the hens wing. Had 3-4 different hens injured at one time or another.

I'm finding that the older the rooster gets, the more practiced he is at balancing, and it helps if the hen squats down properly and holds still. Haven't had any injuries in quite some time.

 

[LaFleche]

Sometimes it is not the pointy tip of the nails, but the razorsharp edges on the sides that cause the injuries underneath the hens' wings. In any case I would file the cockerel/rooster nails until all sharp edges or pointy tips are blunted to prevent more injuries.

 

[bdaboystoys]

I’m starting to have an issue with my rooster cutting my hens badly during mating, what are ways I can stop this from happening? I’m hatching chicks from them now so I didn’t want to have to separate the rooster but of course I’ve separated the injured hens. It just keeps happening and I’m not sure what the best approach is. My rooster is around 8 months old so he is pretty young and he has 6 hens with him that are the same age. Honestly he isn’t an aggressive rooster and doesn’t seem to be over breeding. Will filing his nails help or does he just need more experience to breed them properly?

Yes, file his nails [Spurs].

 

[aart]

nails [Spurs]

Toenails and spurs are different parts of the anatomy.