Breeding question. NEED to know!!!

[MakNat]

If pullets are not laying yet, but are with a rooster. Then seperated from the rooster, but starts laying a week or two after being with NO rooster. Will her eggs be fertile?

 

[Attack Chicken]

Usually the female will lay fertile eggs for about a month. I'd put them in a bator and see what happens

 

[MakNat]

Well what I'm trying to do is, get my leghorn pullets breed to my leghorn roo. 2 out of the 6 hens were laying already. 10 days ago I put them with the roo in a seperate coop all togather with a light. And since they've been looked up together 2 more have started laying ,pretty sure the other 2 will be right behind, they are all the same age. So to be safe I should wait another 20 days before I start gathering their eggs to incubate?

 

[Attack Chicken]

If they are without a rooster the I wouldn't wait 20 days, but if you still have the roo in with them I would give the pullets time to lay a little larger eggs to incubate. I've heard pullet eggs are sometimes harder to hatch because the chick doesn't have as much room, but I've heard they do just fine.

 

[greathorse]

I think your question is could the eggs that the non layers that started to lay be fertile from the first rooster? And the answer is not likely, but possible. If you want to be very certain that all eggs are from the second rooster yes you should wait about 21 days.

A lot of folks do not hatch pullet eggs as fertillty viability size of egg double yokers etc can be an isse. ON the other hand pullet eggs have hatched and if you know what you are getting into then by all means set your pullet eggs, just keep your excpectations very low.

 

[M To The Maxx]

I have read that a hen will stay fertile for 2 weeks.

 

[MakNat]

The problem there is. I just got this big idea, so they have been running with about 5 different breeds of roos!! Thanks for taking the time to read and help me figure this out!!! Its very well insolated and they seem fine, maybe alittle bored, so Maybe I will wait it out for the 20 days and throw the extra protien and calcium to em!! I LOVE leghorns and really really want to breed my own. These are hatcheiry pullets and the roo is one I raised this year with one of my older hens and my neighbor's roo!! So cool!!

 

[MakNat]

Quote:
I Did NOT know that!! The eggs really are pretty good size and I have been eating them. Haven't seen double yokers! I think a couple have been fertile from the wrong roos. Not %100 sure how to tell tho... Thanks!! Figure its worth a try! And you're exactly right!! That WAS my question!!

 

[greathorse]

You can try breaking a few of the eggs that you have now and you will easily see if they are fertile or not. I assume you are eating them anyway.

If the dot on the yoke is simply a dot and is not shaped like a bullseye the egg is Not fertile. If it has a bullseye it will be fertile.

You can do a search on this site or google and you will clearly see what I mean, there are some great photo's of the differnence between fertile and and infertile eggs.

I am not very good at doing these searches and copying the information or I would put it on here. I beleive Speckledhen is the one that posted some of the best photo's

Good luck

I have a few pullets that I want to breed they just started laying and the eggs are all over the place in terms of size and so forth. I have broken a number of them and find that very few if any have been fertile. I will of course wait for a while to see if the sizing, double yoking and fertilty improves. My rooster is very young also so may not be hitting on all cylinders.