Bringing in a Stud ROO?

[EsoBOFH]

Folks - has anyone ever brought in a ``stud`` rooster for a short period to fertilize some eggs?

Is it possible to have an existing flock of hens, bring in a rooster for a week or so, and then take him out in order to get some fertilized eggs?

My neighbor behind me has a rooster, and I wonder if I can bring him over for a conjugal visit hehe

 

[mstricer]

I guess it is possible, if you aren't in a hurry to hatch. You would have to quarantine him for 30 days. Then if you have any roosters you would have to remove him, wait 3 weeks, then its a go.

 

[RedDrgn]

I guess it is possible, if you aren't in a hurry to hatch. You would have to quarantine him for 30 days. Then if you have any roosters you would have to remove him, wait 3 weeks, then its a go.

Yep, that'd be the best biosecurity practice. Then when you gave him back, your neighbor would end up repeating the whole process. I'd feel bad for the poor roo.

But yes, people have "rented" roosters to fertilize their flock before. The hens will lay fertile eggs for up to 3 weeks after being fertilized, too. Just remember that if you're hatching your own, you've got a 50/50 on hatching roos that you'll need to deal with yourself. It's always best to plan ahead as to what, exactly, you want to do and how you'll go about it.

 

[speckledhen]

People assume that a hen will automatically submit to any old strange rooster and that is not always the case. They often will fight and bloody the rooster, who sometimes will retaliate.

Then, as others mentioned, there is the disease problem. You cannot tell by looking at a bird if it's a carrier of one of the viral or bacterial respiratory diseases that stay in the body of a bird when the symptoms are gone.


I'd never do it, personally. You could end up with injured birds, at the least, or infected birds as a worst case scenario.

 

[donrae]

Yep, that'd be the best biosecurity practice. Then when you gave him back, your neighbor would end up repeating the whole process. I'd feel bad for the poor roo.

But yes, people have "rented" roosters to fertilize their flock before. The hens will lay fertile eggs for up to 3 weeks after being fertilized, too. Just remember that if you're hatching your own, you've got a 50/50 on hatching roos that you'll need to deal with yourself. It's always best to plan ahead as to what, exactly, you want to do and how you'll go about it.

That.

If you don't have a rooster now, what are you going to do with the roosters you hatch out? If you want to keep a roo, why not just get one?

 

[speckledhen]

You'd be better off just buying and hatching some eggs off one of the BYC breeders here, or even your neighbor. If you don't have a rooster, do you have an incubator?