Am I Asking Too Much of My Roo?

[wsdareme]

I have 21 hens and 1 roo. The last batch of eggs I incubated from my BCM hen (I only have one BCM hen) had 1 quitter out of 7. Okay, now I don't know if "quitter" is the right word. It looked like scrambled egg when I cracked it open. I'm guessing it wasn't fertile.

I just candled my current batch of 7 at day 17. 5 out of 7 were clear. I'm devastated.

It appears that I have a problem with fertility. Am I just asking too much of Stumpy to try to cover 21 hens?

From my last hatch I have 4 BCM chicks and I'm hoping for a roo out of the bunch to help dad take care of the girls, but it's going to be a few months before the new guy would be old enough to help. And, I'm assuming that Stumpy will welcome the help.

Any suggestions and information would be appreciated.

 

[emys]

Can you pick out five to seven or so of your best hens to separate into a breeding group with your rooster while you collect hatching eggs? Change his focus to these girls. He probably has favorites.

 

[Buckguy20]

I wouldn't use more than ten hens with him at a time.

 

[wsdareme]

Quote:
I don't really have a way of doing this, but.....

...if I were to lock him in the coop with my Marans hens (I have a BCM, Splash, Blue, and Cuckoo) for a day with the others outside, would that work? If I only did it for one day, how many days' worth of fertilized eggs would I get? And how many days would I need to wait until I knew I was getting fertile eggs? I hate to crack them open to look because I'm lucky if I get 3-4 eggs per week from the BCM.

I never thought about him having favorites. I could see that he would, though.

 

[emys]

Locking them out might be more conducive to creating the mood. Locking them in might be too stressful. Guess it depends on how nice and bright and comfy your coop is. (Also, where will your other girls lay eggs if they are locked out all day?)

Seems like you need a small breeder pen for romantic getaway weekends.

The eggs are fertile day after successful matings take place, and the hen can easily retain sperm for at least a week.