Buff Orpington Egg's not fertilized.

[GuamChicken]

Hello, I have a question regarding fertility issues. I have two hens, one BO, and one a mutt. I have them together with two BO roosters. Both hens lay eggs regularly, and I collected 16 eggs over 10 days for incubation, 8 BO, 8 mutt. I know the rooster has " relations" with the BO hen regularly from visual sightings. Lol.. After 10 days, I candled them, last pm, and every one of the mutt hens eggs had an embryo, and every one of the BO's eggs were empty. ?? I really only did this incubation to get the purebred BO's. Does anyone have an explanation for this or recommend anything I can do. Thank you.

 

[sourland]

If the Orpington has excessive fluff around her vent, the rooster may not be making contact. Try plucking feathers from around her vent if it appears that is the case.

 

[GuamChicken]

If the Orpington has excessive fluff around her vent, the rooster may not be making contact. Try plucking feathers from around her vent if it appears that is the case.

OMG, really ? She is very fluffy in that area, it definitely makes sense. The other mutt hen is very thin feathered. I will give it a try, Thanks.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

OMG, really ? She is very fluffy in that area, it definitely makes sense. The other mutt hen is very thin feathered. I will give it a try, Thanks.

If you have two roosters and only two hens, you either have one rooster too many or else 18 fewer hens than you need. When you have too many roosters jealousy can result in mating's that are interrupted before semen can be delivered. But you still may need to trim the feathers from around the vents. To see if this is your problem confine each hen with a different rooster then see if fertility rates don't increase.

I see all kinds of opinions expressed about how long a hen remains fertile after mating, but in my experience this period of fertility after mating only lasts for around 5 days, maybe 7 under ideal conditions.

 

[GuamChicken]

If you have two roosters and only two hens, you either have one rooster too many or else 18 fewer hens than you need. When you have too many roosters jealousy can result in mating's that are interrupted before semen can be delivered. But you still may need to trim the feathers from around the vents. To see if this is your problem confine each hen with a different rooster then see if fertility rates don't increase.

I see all kinds of opinions expressed about how long a hen remains fertile after mating, but in my experience this period of fertility after mating only lasts for around 5 days, maybe 7 under ideal conditions.

I agree, 18 hens too few obviously. I'm trying to grow out my Orp birds with no more resources. Your point of the mating interruption is very good. I never realized that might be the problem. I witness it all the time and I thought it was hillarious but now realize since your response, that may be the problem. Everytime the hen is being " mated " by the alpha Roo, the other Roo always jumps on top of the alpha Roo for a triple stack and they all three fall over, Lol.. It looks so funny and hilarious but now I see its not so funny anymore. Will do as recommended, and separate them. I never thought to do it before bc they get along so well. Thanks!

 

[sourland]

The 'triple stack' may also be dangerous to the hen. As the rooster tries to maintain a grip on her, he may lacerate her back with his toenails.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I agree, 18 hens too few obviously. I'm trying to grow out my Orp birds with no more resources. Your point of the mating interruption is very good. I never realized that might be the problem. I witness it all the time and I thought it was hillarious but now realize since your response, that may be the problem. Everytime the hen is being " mated " by the alpha Roo, the other Roo always jumps on top of the alpha Roo for a triple stack and they all three fall over, Lol.. It looks so funny and hilarious but now I see its not so funny anymore. Will do as recommended, and separate them. I never thought to do it before bc they get along so well. Thanks!

Use the situation to your advantage. Because you own 2 roosters of the same strain but only one Orp hen, make one mating using your alpha rooster and a second mating using your beta or 2nd roo. That will give you two blood lines to breed too, to breed from, and to line breed back into to each other thus reducing the amount of inbreeding. Your gene pool is already pretty shallow, so I can see no reason to make it any shallower. To learn more about how to mark and identify young chicks so you'll know who their mama and daddy was, search this sight about chick toe punching and nose marking.

 

[GuamChicken]

Ok, Thanks. Can you give me a little bit of an idea how to do this on a practical level. I only have one coop, and the 4 birds are in there. It's big enough for 10 birds. Are you suggesting I completely separate the flock in half until enough eggs are collected for incubation, then rotate the roosters and do the same again. I think that was you are saying. Thanks for the help.