Chicken Stud Service?

[riftnreef]

OK...this may be a first, but unique situations call for unique answers...

I live in the city, and am not permitted to keep roos, which I'm sure is a familiar circumstance for a lot of us. I am also addicted to hatching! More to the point, I like to have the best birds I can get...even if it's not for breeding, but just for my laying flock. Late this past summer I picked up three SQ RIR hens...these gals are really some of the best I've ever seen...so much so that I feel it's a waste not to beed them and hatch out some eggs....so my question is, has anyone ever "borrowed" a roo for breeding, or sent hens out to be breed for a while then hatch the eggs? I would like to put my girls under a quality RIR roo for about two weeks and collect the eggs to get some hatching eggs, so if anyone knows of a good RIR breeder in central/SW Ohio feel free to let me know.

So...crazy or not?

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Not crazy...BUT...potentially dangerous for your flock. First of all, no reputable breeder is going to loan out a breeder quality rooster to someone they don't know, whos flock could be harboring some horrible illness. Especially since you haven't had your girls since they hatched, you have no idea what they could have been exposed to or what they could be carrying. It wouldn't be your fault if they've shown no sign of illness since you've had them, but you could be unwittingly exposing someone's prized rooster to a potentially deadly disease. Likewise, bringing in a rooster to "visit" your girls is exposing your flock to lord knows what as well...just my 2 cents...

 

[EweSheep]

Here is the link LOL! https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=436454

It is possible but you have to use common sense. I've done that because I did have the space and time to do it. And the roo was in quarantine for a month.

I do have a roo right now but he will be gone in March or April of this year.

It is not any different than bringing home your own bird from a show, that you must quarantine them.

Reason why I would do this, I need a good roo for my girls, and they are getting on their 3rd and 4th year of age. I have ONE that I know she is downright beautiful and correct, that I wanted to get some daughters out of her to see what she will produce for future generations. Not everyone can do this for the right reason but if you have a very exceptional bird that you really want to get some offsprings, by all mean, do it. And do it wisely and carefully! Yes there ARE risks!

If that is too much for you, either hatch or get some chicks from a breeder/hatchery in late June to July, he will mature around winter time, like in Jan/Feb at the earliest to start breeding your hens by spring and before neighbors start opening up windows, he will have to go.

 

[smith2]

Yes, my friends and I did it last year, and it is not quick and easy. I might be crazy, but as far as I know none of us involved in the project had any problems.

First, I treated all the birds I was going to use with antibiotics and Eprinex and quarantined them in individual pens for 30 days on my property.
Second, the roo got the same treatment.
Then, I used one of my breeding pens, that had been cleaned and disenfected and we put the birds together for 30 days. Hatched about 25 eggs.

Of course, about 17 were roos, and 8 were hens. Sold most of the roos, dressed some for dumplings, and still have the girls.

Everyone went back home and was quarantined at their homes for another 30 days.

All in all this took us about 4 months to arrange it and do it right, but everything turned out fine. Just be careful and use good hygiene, quaratine, and cleanliness practices.

 

[EweSheep]

Quote:
That was the exact set up I had!

 

[riftnreef]

I guess with bio-security in mind, it's not the best idea in the world. Thanks for the input.

 

[NYREDS]

I borrowed a male Bantam Malay last year. I foolishly kept only one male over so of course he died. I have a friend nearby who raises Malays also & he generously let me take a male for the breeding season.
The day I got the male I dusted him with a little louse powder just to be on the safe side. I then immediately put him in with the hens he was to be mated with. When I returned him I again dusted him with louse powder just to be on the safe side. I then took him back to his owner who put him back in a pen with his other birds.
Neither of us quarantined the bird & neither of us had a problem as a result.
In 50 years of keeping chickens I've had occasion to bring home a lot of birds. I've never quarantined them & I've never had a problem as a result. I'm either inordinately lucky [haven't won the lottery yet though] or this just isn't as much of a risk as people with considerably less experience would have you believe.

 

[EweSheep]

NYReds, sometimes if you know the person really well and he has no problems with his flock, it is just the luck of the draw and you and him would have no problems. Mutual trust can go a long ways when you are trying to preserve a breed and sharing flocks.

 

[riftnreef]

Well, I think it goes without saying that no one in their right mind would just give thier birds to someone without at least some base knowladge of their set up and general health of their birds. The problem I would run into now is making sure that I meet the standards for my NPIP certification. If not for that, I don't think I would be overly concerned with it as long as I knew the person I was getting the roo from. But again, with the NPIP it would be more of a pain then it's worth...

edit for fat fingers...

 

[speckledhen]

Neither of us quarantined the bird & neither of us had a problem as a result.
In 50 years of keeping chickens I've had occasion to bring home a lot of birds. I've never quarantined them & I've never had a problem as a result. I'm either inordinately lucky [haven't won the lottery yet though] or this just isn't as much of a risk as people with considerably less experience would have you believe.

Bill, do you read the Emergencies section at all? It is definitely a concern. The horror stories are just too numerous for me to slough them off. You are just very lucky or you associate with other breeders who take proper care of their birds and proper precaution when they acquire birds, folks that cull for any respiratory symptoms immediately, rather than try to treat them, which is futile. That mitigates your risk tremendously. Most people don't use the axe as quickly as old time chicken keepers and breeders do, trust me!

Besides the disease factor, not every hen automatically submits to a brand new adult rooster. They may protest to the point of drawing blood on the new guy if he just pops in and demands submission. Had that happen with the only adult bird I've ever brought here. Of course, he laid down the law immediately, but he spent an hour on my lap with me trying to stem the flow of blood from his comb.