Putting rooster with hens sometimes…

[PolloGal]

Hi. I have a few roosters that I keep apart from my hens in a different (attached) pen. The roosters are apart from each other too. But….everyone shares a chicken wire wall…so can see, hear, and beak-touch each other.…which I am thinking is a constant introduction - (so they should all kind of know each other). I want fertile eggs sometimes…so I was thinking of putting one rooster with the hens for part of a day…maybe 2ce a week...‘rotating’ roosters. Would that be enough to give me fertile eggs? Would the roosters and hens be ‘content’ with that? I want them all to be happy, but I don’t want my hens ‘beat up’ all day - every day. And I don’t need tons of fertile eggs. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks.

 

[sourland]

Hens can retain sperm and produce fertile eggs for weeks after mating. Allowing occasional 'conjugal' visits would accomplish that.

 

[imacowgirl2]

Hi. I have a few roosters that I keep apart from my hens in a different (attached) pen. The roosters are apart from each other too. But….everyone shares a chicken wire wall…so can see, hear, and beak-touch each other.…which I am thinking is a constant introduction - (so they should all kind of know each other). I want fertile eggs sometimes…so I was thinking of putting one rooster with the hens for part of a day…maybe 2ce a week...‘rotating’ roosters. Would that be enough to give me fertile eggs? Would the roosters and hens be ‘content’ with that? I want them all to be happy, but I don’t want my hens ‘beat up’ all day - every day. And I don’t need tons of fertile eggs. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks.

I probably wouldn’t add a different rooster every time…my bachelor pad shares wire wall with my hens run, but it’s still stressful on my hens when I add a rooster for a few days; mostly because the boys go a little girl crazy when they’re first added. I put a rooster in with a couple hens for a couple days, then separate them again for usually two weeks, and repeat untilI have all the fertile eggs I need. If I was adding a rooster to the whole flock like you mention, I would probably just add the same rooster day after day for however long you want, then take a break for a couple weeks, then add a rooster again. Using the same rooster day after day will make him more familiar to your hens and also help calm him down around the hens instead of having a new girl crazy rooster each day.

 

[PolloGal]

Thank you. Glad to know other do this and that the birds are all content with it. Just didn’t want the rooster to be ‘unhappy’ In this situation.