Breeding trio question.......

[chicmom]

I have a lovely breeding trio of Wheaten Marans......the problem is, the rooster is a little rough. He's got his favorite hen, and she's getting a good bald spot on her back and the sides of her neck where he obviously grabs her. Now, I've got six other hens in the coop for him, so the ratio is 9 hens to 1 rooster.

It saddens me that the ladies don't look as beautiful as they were when I first bought them. Yesterday, I put a hen saddle on the rooster's favorite hen......

Any advice on this? Should I separate them and give the ladies a break? I hate to do that during hatching season.....but I don't know what else to do!

Sharon

 

[chicmom]

Bumping my own post! Anybody.....?

 

[Mrs. K]

Are all wearing out, or just mainly one? If just one, I might alternate, remove her a day, put her back in the flock and remove him a day, if you can, so you don't get reintroduction problems, and you still get your fertilized eggs.

You could pull him for a week or even two, I think that they are serviced for about 3 weeks, or at least they say that is how long you need to wait before being sure it it the other roo, when you are changing roos.

What is the percentage of unfertilized eggs that you are currently getting, keep track of the next 10 or 20 that you cook with, if it is very high, well then you can pull him a bit, if it is not as high as you want, then alternate out the hens.

Just an idea. MrsK

 

[WallTenters]

Do you have any other hens you can add in to give him 4-5 hens? Otherwise, pull him out and give visits once or twice a week should be plenty, from what I've read, experienced and seen. Some roos are just more amorous than others

 

[chicmom]

Quote:
Hmm I like that idea! I don't have four or five hens right now.....They're all just chicks, so they've got the whole summer to mature. I like the idea of letting him visit once or twice a week.....

GREAT IDEA! THANK YOU!