CONJUGAL VISIT- died and gone to heaven?

[pfmoore17]

I hope this is the right place to place this.............

My Wheaten Marans Hens have been living in relative peace and quiet for the last 6 months. They started laying eggs in January and
now are laying 6-7 eggs a day of pretty decent color (5-6 consistently after starting w/6-7's).

I did have 7 roosters, but I gave them to Mr. DeGiacomo for him to enjoy. An elderly Italian-born gentleman from Calabria, Mr. D enjoys his garden,
bunnies, chickens, fig trees, wine and assorted other interests on his hillside farm. I called him a few weeks back to ask about the roos and he informed me they were
delicious and would I like to come over on Super Bowl Sunday for the final feast. I told him that I wanted a stay of execution, so I could mate him with my
hens and get a couple of hatches out of them. I assured Mr. D that I would reward him with more chicks for his cooking pleasure. He seemed fine with that.

So the rooster is in with the hens. How long will it be before I can start putting eggs in the bator?

 

[CoopCrazy]

Could take a few weeks to get fertility up...

 

[pfmoore17]

the rooster is settling in fine. He is kind to the hens, but has been jumping them from the get go.
no pulled feathers or rough stuff. still i wonder if I can start putting some in the bator next week or is that too soon.
any advise?

 

[onthespot]

Me, if I saw him treading the hens in an effective way, would start putting in eggs two days later.

 

[The Chicken People]

Take an egg aand check for the bullseye?

 

[silkiechicken]

You can try in a week or so to put it in, and if it's good to go, great, if not, give it a few more weeks and it can probably still improve.

 

[zoomia]

I have absolutely no idea, but your post was wonderful and made me laugh!

 

[Garden Gal]

Quote:
Me too! I'm just glad we were talking about a rooster and not someone's uncle in the pokey!!

 

[pfmoore17]

Quote:
Mr. DeGiacomo is a nice elderly gentleman. When I met him at his place, we went into a utility shed that stored his tools and 4 kegs of wine. Before I could refuse, he offered me a glass of his own red wine made from San Gervasi grapes and talked how tasty the roosters had been. He went on how he had dressed and prepared them, and how special they had been; "the taste, the taste..."

Mr. D tapped the box the rooster was in with his foot and lamented how the roo had seen all 5 of his brothers taken away. "He probably thinks he is a goner. But the little boy is going to emerge from his box and be in the presence of 8 beautiful hens." And with a twinkle in his eye he remarked, " Now, that's what I call dying and going to heaven!" At that we clinked our (second) glasses and toasted the "buona fortuna" of the rooster.

I had a lunch of eggs yesterday and there were no bullseye as I cracked open those day's eggs (wishful thinking, one day, typical man thinking!). Today I gather 7 eggs and gave 6 to a friend and broke open the lightess colored egg. I thought I saw a bulleyes, it looked like a Lyme Tick Bite bullseye! Tonight I am looking for reference photos.

 

[pfmoore17]

Quote:
"Treading."

I guess that is my new word of the day and it perfectly describes what he did to the hens.

I had him in a separate cage for a couple hours after he arrived. The chickens were all excited and I finally released him in the afternoon. He ran around, treading a few times, and generally being a pain. But by nigh time, everybody was cool. Tuesday morning when I let them out for play, he was leading the hens around. Pretty cool and no issues.