12th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-Along

[JCaseyHammond]

I have a little lone jungle fowl, my only constant coop jumper. She's the only one out of the run everyday. I noticed on Saturday evening i hadn't seen her all day. Sunday came & nothing, I was starting to think I lost her to a predator (we've had a couple hawks hanging around & she's little). Guess who showed up today with a gap in her breast feathers and wanted some food. She grumbly ate some scratch and I stalked her back to her hideout. I don't know how many eggs she's sitting on or the exact date but im guessing its fairly close to our Easter hatch! Hopefully she makes it all the way through!

Broodies are so cute!

 

[Wickedchicken6]

Good grief, I haven’t seen you in years, @Wickedchicken6 !

 

[CluckNDoodle]

I found the original study and the abstract says:

Abstract​

The way females utilize the gametes of different males has important consequences for sexual selection, sexual conflict, and intersexual coevolution in natural populations. However, patterns of sperm utilization by females are difficult to demonstrate, and their functional significance remains unclear. Here, we experimentally study sperm ejection in the fowl Gallus gallus domesticus, where females eject preferentially the sperm of socially subordinate males. We study two measures of sperm ejection, (i) the probability that an ejaculate is ejected (“risk”) and (ii) the proportion of semen ejected (“intensity”), and show that both measures are strongly nonrandom with respect to characteristics of the ejaculate, the male, and the female. Sperm ejection neutralized on average 80% of an ejaculate, and while larger ejaculates suffered a higher ejection risk, smaller ejaculates suffered more intense ejection. After controlling for ejaculate volume, we found socially subdominant males suffered higher ejection intensity. After controlling for male and ejaculate effects, we found ejection risk increased and intensity declined as females mated with successive males. Collectively, these results reveal that sperm ejection risk and intensity are at least partly actively caused by female behavior and generate independent selective pressures on male and ejaculate phenotypes.

The article was mis interpreting the study which is normal.

First, 20% stay if there is an ejection from a sub dominant rooster. I have never seen an ejection so doubt that it is very common.

There is no conscious choice by the hen and this would only apply if you had multiple roosters in a flock.

Fertilization will still be random but will lean towards the dominant roosters sperm-- likely due to sperm volume.

My main point with this along with the older clean out myth-- where removing a rooster and adding a new one will cause the removed roosters sperm to be pushed out so that you can hatch eggs sooner, is very dangerous for a breeding program. The old roosters sperm will be there for more than 30 days sometimes.

So there is some truth to it then! Thanks! My only point was that the dominant rooster is more likely to father. I didn't mean to make it sound like you wouldn't have to wait a minimum of 3 weeks to move on to a new rooster. They were just trying to guarantee that only the old rooster was the father and I feel like only the egg laid that day would be guaranteed to be the 1st rooster. Any eggs laid after 24 hours could be from either rooster even if one is more likely than the other, it's not guaranteed. So you confirmed what I said. Thank you!

 

[ronott1]

So there is some truth to it then! Thanks! My only point was that the dominant rooster is more likely to father. I didn't mean to make it sound like you wouldn't have to wait a minimum of 3 weeks to move on to a new rooster. They were just trying to guarantee that only the old rooster was the father and I feel like only the egg laid that day would be guaranteed to be the 1st rooster. Any eggs laid after 24 hours could be from either rooster even if one is more likely than the other, it's not guaranteed. So you confirmed what I said. Thank you!

The part I saw was that the Hen chose the rooster that fertilized the eggs!

What this is more of survival of the fittest that will help make a species stronger over time.

 

[spartacus_63]

Day four candling is complete. Of 30 eggs set I can confirm that 24 (80%) are fertile with an additional three as likely fertile but questionable on the development. One of the fertile eggs was dropped during handling so it is out of the running.

As I was getting ready for this hatch-along, I fired up the incubator to get it pre-heated and discovered that my digital thermostat was inoperable. I ordered a replacement but knew it would not arrive in time to set the eggs for Easter so I purchased a Farm Inovations incubator. This has been quite frustrating as I have never used this brand, but it was the only available option locally. Although I like the design of the incubator, the heater is offset from the center and the incubator has some wide disparity in the temperatures. I will say that I was pleasantly surprised at the high number of developing embryos, but have not uncrossed my fingers yet. I do plan to move the eggs to my tested & trusted incubator once the parts arrive & I get it back into working order.

 

[Wickedchicken6]

I found the original study and the abstract says:

Abstract​

The way females utilize the gametes of different males has important consequences for sexual selection, sexual conflict, and intersexual coevolution in natural populations. However, patterns of sperm utilization by females are difficult to demonstrate, and their functional significance remains unclear. Here, we experimentally study sperm ejection in the fowl Gallus gallus domesticus, where females eject preferentially the sperm of socially subordinate males. We study two measures of sperm ejection, (i) the probability that an ejaculate is ejected (“risk”) and (ii) the proportion of semen ejected (“intensity”), and show that both measures are strongly nonrandom with respect to characteristics of the ejaculate, the male, and the female. Sperm ejection neutralized on average 80% of an ejaculate, and while larger ejaculates suffered a higher ejection risk, smaller ejaculates suffered more intense ejection. After controlling for ejaculate volume, we found socially subdominant males suffered higher ejection intensity. After controlling for male and ejaculate effects, we found ejection risk increased and intensity declined as females mated with successive males. Collectively, these results reveal that sperm ejection risk and intensity are at least partly actively caused by female behavior and generate independent selective pressures on male and ejaculate phenotypes.

The article was mis interpreting the study which is normal.

First, 20% stay if there is an ejection from a sub dominant rooster. I have never seen an ejection so doubt that it is very common.

There is no conscious choice by the hen and this would only apply if you had multiple roosters in a flock.

Fertilization will still be random but will lean towards the dominant roosters sperm-- likely due to sperm volume.

My main point with this along with the older clean out myth-- where removing a rooster and adding a new one will cause the removed roosters sperm to be pushed out so that you can hatch eggs sooner, is very dangerous for a breeding program. The old roosters sperm will be there for more than 30 days sometimes.

A perfect example: I had a mated pair from a black Maran based background. She consorted with one of my red roosters for a small period of time. She hatched 3 black and white-based chickens from her original mate and one red pullet from the second rooster.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

The part I saw was that the Hen chose the rooster that fertilized the eggs!

What this is more of survival of the fittest that will help make a species stronger over time.

Probably a poor choice of words on my part. I'm sorry. Thank you again for finding the study!!! I need to bookmark it so I can tag next time it's discussed.

 

[Northernflame]

Almost forgot to post! Set quail eggs yesterday and a pair of pigeons started sitting on the 15th, not sure if those count.

 

[vall]

Look what I found right by my front door! This hummingbird might just be on time for Easter.

 

[carsenann]

Is it too late to join?? I've wanted to join a hatchalong since like 2015 but I'm always too late lol.
I have some geese eggs in already and am putting chicken eggs in tonight-- my roosters are young & were not 'getting it on' just right, there weren't enough bullseyes. (I think they seem to know what they're doing now though.) The chicks should hatch around the 7th & the goose eggs the 10th. I'll probably be doing Easter with some kiddies so having a 'second Easter' is probably better for the chicks anyways lol, they will get more attention during hatch days since I won't be as busy.