Changing roosters for new genitics

[Rod-T]

Ive read somewhere that when you take a rooster out ..the hens can remain fertile for up to a month. I guess the hens store the sperm.
It was also stated if you put a new rooster in right away..his sperm overlays the old sperm. And the hen usally use the new. But if you take that second rooster out.. as she lays fertile eggs for up to a month.. you could get chicks from the original rooster.
I guess my question is . To be safe wouldn't it be better to take rooster out in fall, and let the hen go without rooster..until spring and then add your new rooster?any eggs she would lay thru winter would use all the sperm up?

 

[Mrs. K]

or just don't hatch for a while.

 

[DanEP]

After 3-4 weeks all the eggs from your girls will be from the new rooster. I have gotten a black chick 3 weeks after changing out with a white rooster so I always wait for four weeks before gathering eggs. No need to separate the hens and the new rooster just don't gather any eggs to hatch for 4 weeks and your good. In fact that 4 weeks would be good to give the girls time to accept the new guy.

 

[donrae]

Depends on when you're wanting to start hatching, and how important it is to you.

If you're not going to hatch until spring, it really doesn't matter either way. Putting the new male in sooner would help the hens get adjusted to him and they should be more receptive to breeding in the spring. Waiting until the day before you want to collect eggs wouldn't be great, the hens may resist the new guy, especially if he's a bit younger than they.

Then again, I'd be looking at the savings of not feeding a rooster over the winter......

 

[Rod-T]

I guess I'm more concerned with the older rooster sperm being stored and being overlayed.
Potentially his could remain viable for alot longer then a month if the hen uses the new roosters first.seems to me it would be a better choice to let her go without a rooster for awhile to better your chances of being certain Wich rooster fathered your chicks.
Some people let all their chickens run together. . Then in spring separate there breeds to sell hatching eggs. Seems to me that can be a bad thing.
I'm a newbie but read alot..maybe I'm over thinking this.

 

[DanEP]

Letting them all run together is fine till you want to breed. Then just separate the ones your breeding and wait 3-4 weeks and start collecting eggs. 3 weeks may or may not be enough but I've always found 4 weeks to be enough to ensure the right father.

 

[Den in Penn]

I don't know where that "overlayed" came from, but I would think it came from the fact that the new rooster's sperm in more fresher then the previous roosters. That would mean it has a better chance fertilize the egg, not that the older ones is left in back of storage. Hang around long enough and you will hear of cases where the old rooster and the new have fathered chicks from hens still in that "overlay" period. If a hen did store the sperm till the new rooster's sperm was used up, the old roosters sperm would have died in around a month. It doesn't live longer then that. So after that month you can be sure who the father will be.