Hi, I'm looking for some breeding tips i have a RIR rooster in cage with my 2 Lavender Araucana hens for breeding. I will admit this is my first time, and will need some help. I have a broody patiently waiting for some eggs so this is the time to get breeding i thought. My rooster is 11 months old. Do i have to leave them in this cage all day or just the morning till they can free range at 12:30??? How long do i have to keep them in this cage. How do i know if the eggs that i collect from the cage are fertile. Will the rooster even mate with them.
OH yes! He will be doing his job. You might not see him, but he does. I keep my breeding seramas in a pen after they free range then stay in their pen for the evening until morning. All eggs will most likely be fertile! good luck!
Thank you so much, i do hope that he does his job and i get some chicks. Also because the rooster is a RIR and the hens are Araucana will the chicks lay blue/greeny eggs or does the rooster cancel that gene out.
You really only need to watch the hens. The rooster needs a little time with them, but can be removed afterwards. Keep the hens confined to make sure you get all the fertile eggs. Now would be a bad time to have one hide her eggs.
Yeah today actually i only got one egg but i checked all around the cage and in the nesting boxes where the other hens lay and found no other blue egg so i hope this hasn't upset her.
When you cook with eggs, practice seeing if they are fertilized. Check this website for pictures. Just keep a tally of the fertilized ones and divide by the total eggs opened. If most of the eggs you eat are fertilized, you can bet that the eggs that you want to set are fertilized. I am not sure if I understand your set up, but a rooster more than likely is about taking care of that over all of the hens you have. You don't really have to cage them up, unless you have multiple roosters, and this particular cross is what you want. Otherwise just set the color of eggs you want. I take it that you are from Australia and going into spring. So your rooster should have the 'sap rising' and be quite sexually active. Up here, going into winter, a rooster might not be covering all the females with great vigor, with the flock finishing up the molt and going into winter. good luck, Mrs K
