The Heritage Rhode Island Red Site

[NestingHillsSC]

Probly two days and you should have fertile eggs if they are laying regularly. This time of the year your probly doing really good if you get an egg every other day from a standard bred hen.(in natural lighting that is)

Jeff

On the clearing out of the others older semen to the newer cocks, there's lots of variables here I'd say from 2 weeks to 4 some rare instances proves the latter false also, not a set rule just an approximation is the best you could hope for here.

Jeff

My chickens lay more this time of year than in the summer here. Yesterday because some are just starting to lay and some are just getting over a molt, I got a record 18 eggs from the hens. Granted I have around 30 hens. My Leghorns and Heritage Dellies lay everyday. All year. Brahmas and Reds lay around every other day. I use no light in the hen houses. Mine are outside all day everyday. I really see no drop in the winter compared to summer.

Reason I also asked the question is I'm doing a test with my Leghorns. Candled today. Out of 30 eggs had to throw out 2 for blood rings. All the rest have the good spider veins going on. Left the cockerel in there for a week like Ron said before collecting eggs. Have him in there with 4 hens. So, so far after a week it's looking good.

 

[catdaddyfro]

Hi Jeff ,

I can attest to your comment of: " 2 weeks to 4 some rare instances proves the latter false also". I have 3 half-breed/mutts who were hatched from the eggs of a hen segregated in a very safe run with heavy gage wires for 30 days. The cockerel I decided not to keep turned out to be the sire of them all. Well, this was a clutch of chicks which I was happy to have a very poor hatch rate. It proved to me that I have to segregate the hens much longer of a period.

Since the sire of the chicks was only a cockerel, and the older roosters had access to her as well before I separated her, am wondering if the younger birds' sperm has better longevity than the older, mature roosters.

I did not want to keep him; he is gone to another place, but, left me his daughters to remember the lesson : )

Lual

Lual I don't know(probly a few variables here that could account for the potency of a males sperm more so than just age) but I do know there are a lot of cases showing that the sperm from other males from previous matings can and will pop up ever so often. I would think that the newer (not so much as a younger males) sperm would be more potent. But too here's where one can throw most about the way we(I ) think of the life of a sperm cell. In mammals and humans the testes are located on the outside for temperature control reasons and too the female fluids are torture on them also once they are little free swimmers(there's a plan here for all that right) Well in the fowl world the males testes are located on the inside (for temperature control reasons also) this is because when the mating process occurs the sperm(most of them) are stored in the hens reproductive system so that one mating can cover a lot of territory(so to say) if the situation arises where the female is only mated the one time and can still be able to have a multiple offspring birth(lower food chain/and weaker survivors) here more so than a mammalia(large in size) groups. Ever notice all the big mammals have singular or few offspring the smaller have the multiple births all Mother Natures way of keeping everything in balance.I know I'm running on here. But the testicles inside the male lets the sperm live at that temperature for the sole reason of them to be able to survive the duration of time (however long that may be?IDK) inside the reproductive tract of the female. I would figure that a rooster and hens body temps are equal except during broodiness when the hens is a tad bit lower. This is my theory not one I've copied or have go to proof for a reference(s) I'm sure there is and I've probly read up on it on more than one occasion and I'm just putting some stuff together from my thinking here. I'll quit here, LOL

Jeff

 

[docdandc]

Lets try to keep this the Heritage Rhode Island Red Site.

 

[NestingHillsSC]

I thought it was?

Sometimes examples are taken from other breeds if you read the whole thread. All good!

 

[SallyinIndiana]

I'm got two eggs yesterday that I'm sure are double yolks from my RIR hens. What are the opinions on setting 2 yolk eggs? Is it a don't even bother kind of thing or is there a good way to incubate the eggs?

 

[NestingHillsSC]

I think a 99.9% chance won't happen. I have tried a few times. Never hatched.

 

[catdaddyfro]

Lets try to keep this the Heritage Rhode Island Red Site.

I'm sure the mods can handle what's what Doc J/S and I would hope if they decide to eliminate my post(s) they'd put it somewhere appropriate it took a lot of caffeine and fixing a lot of typos for all that this morning I'm not trying to derail the thread, (filling in the gaps) breeding and hatching goes along with rearing up good Reds too LOL

Jeff

 

[NestingHillsSC]

I'm sure the mods can handle what's what Doc J/S and I would hope if they decide to eliminate my post(s) they'd put it somewhere appropriate it took a lot of caffeine and fixing a lot of typos for all that this morning I'm not trying to derail the thread, (filling in the gaps) breeding and hatching goes along with rearing up good Reds too LOL

Jeff

X2

 

[Fentress]

I can understand the need to stay on thread, but learing how to breed chickens is paramount to maintaining standard bred poultry. Breeding requires a more complicated method of keeping poultry. For those of use who have just recently learned to keep poultry some of these things that we thought we knew now have to be revisited. Just a thought. I am trying to read more and ask less questions for what it's worth.

 

[NYREDS]

I'm got two eggs yesterday that I'm sure are double yolks from my RIR hens. What are the opinions on setting 2 yolk eggs? Is it a don't even bother kind of thing or is there a good way to incubate the eggs?

From everything I've ever read, which is a conserable amount, it's not a possibility. There are people on here that claim to have routinely hatched double yolk eggs. Frankly, I doubt it.