Cream Legbars

[dretd]

Quote: It was really more of the crowing at 330 am from a hen house with many open mesh vents vs in my solid wood barn which did at least contain the sound quite a bit. Emphasizing the 330 am, every morning. The neighbor in question didn't even complain when I had the roo plus 2 of his 3 sons who were in a covered pen (but otherwise open to the air) having crowing contests first thing every morning. Quite inspirational to get them re-homed!

 

[dretd]

Quote: I have a little first hand experience collecting roos. I assisted a friend who has developed an extender to increase sperm viability. Her main scientist was an AI expert in cattle and horses but chickens, not so much. Since I am experienced at chicken handling I offered to help out. I did watch the Youtube videos prior to starting plus read up. I learned that the videos are of experts who do it every day using roos that are already trained on the process and its harder than it looks. This was before I had a roo and thought it was an option but afterwards, I decided it was not worth the trouble.

A couple of points to consider:
1)The rooster has to be trained to accept being picked up, flipped on his back and stroked. He has to be relaxed enough during the procedure or you will collect only a tiny fraction of his potential, probably not enough to get a meaningful insemination
2)Roosters need to be collected on a regular basis--several times a day at least--to keep the sperm quality high. This means that if you are not personally collecting him that often, you need to have him in with several hens to keep the plumbing in tip-top condition
3)Sperm is sensitive to temperature shock. You will need to be fluid in your actions so as to not chill the sperm too rapidly during collection by taking too long between steps. A thermos with the correct temp H2O and a test tube floating in it will work to briefly store and transport the sperm to the hen.
4)If you are serious about learning how to do AI, I would suggest taking a course on AI to learn all of the ins and outs (this will help with general sperm handling techniques) although most focus on mammals, or at the very least shadow an experienced poultry person that can show you the tips and tricks that will make it useful.
5)Freezing and thawing semen is particularly challenging and requires specialized equipment to collect, store and thaw the sperm plus the training and experience to optimize the results. It is also very expensive and it would be far cheaper to buy a rooster, pay several hundred $ to have the Oklahoma Veterinarian who does this procedure routinely de-crow it and then you will have a constant source of self-inseminating sperm.

I did learn quite a lot from the experience and if you are really dedicated and interested, all obstacles can be overcome with patience, practice and funds. I don't mean to discourage you if you want to go for it, just passing on my take from the experiment.

 

[TherryChicken]

this question is for any breed. If you remove hens from a rooster. How many days collection will the eggs be fertile? I hope that makes scense

 

[lonnyandrinda]

this question is for any breed. If you remove hens from a rooster. How many days collection will the eggs be fertile? I hope that makes scense

Up to 3 weeks, but more normally about 2 weeks.

 

[TherryChicken]

Up to 3 weeks, but more normally about 2 weeks.

Oh cool, so I can collect aweeks worth of eggs and them still be fertile eve though the rooster hasn't been around? I removed a group of hens as they were being over bred. I am going to buy 3 more later on and then put them back with the rooster.

 

[lonnyandrinda]

Oh cool, so I can collect aweeks worth of eggs and them still be fertile eve though the rooster hasn't been around? I removed a group of hens as they were being over bred. I am going to buy 3 more later on and then put them back with the rooster.

You got it. Good luck hatching!

 

[TherryChicken]

You got it.  Good luck hatching!

Thank you so much!

 

[CibolaChooks]

It was really more of the crowing at 330 am from a hen house with many open mesh vents vs in my solid wood barn which did at least contain the sound quite a bit. Emphasizing the 330 am, every morning. The neighbor in question didn't even complain when I had the roo plus 2 of his 3 sons who were in a covered pen (but otherwise open to the air) having crowing contests first thing every morning. Quite inspirational to get them re-homed!

I have 29 roosters out at my place in the mountains. I need to re-home maybe 7-10 of them. i only have 5 neighbors and they are pretty far away. the one is close and i know he doesn't really like it but hes rarely there. I did talk to him about my breeding plans and he thought it was a good idea. that was his ignorance talking though, because he didn't really understand even though i did my best to explain my plans. Whats weird is he liked the guinea hens before the coyotes got them and they were loud and very annoying. they would fallow me all over the mountain and bug the bejesus out of me.

But the 430 am crow fest is a bit different. About 12 of them have the crowing contest every morning, the rest lower on the totem poll just watch. and whats weird is 12 hours later around 4-5 in the evening they all start going off. And of course a few of them on and off all day.
The second closest neighbor came over a few weeks ago and she thought that i only had like 2-3 roosters

so that was rather interesting. they like the crowing and the occasional goose honking they hear. what Ive noticed the most is i don't really notice it anymore. it doesn't bother me and i actually like it.
A good thing to let the neighbors know is that ear plugs ready to go on their nightstands work great.

. as soon as you hear (

) dont

just roll over and pop those ear plugs in.

gotta love agricultural zoning and the ability to have an unlimited amount of poultry in my state.

 

[Flaming Chicken]

But the 430 am crow fest is a bit different. About 12 of them have the crowing contest every morning, the rest lower on the totem poll just watch. and whats weird is 12 hours later around 4-5 in the evening they all start going off. And of course a few of them on and off all day.
The second closest neighbor came over a few weeks ago and she thought that i only had like 2-3 roosters  so that was rather interesting. they like the crowing and the occasional goose honking they hear. what Ive noticed the most is i don't really notice it anymore. it doesn't bother me and i actually like it.
A good thing to let the neighbors know is that ear plugs ready to go on their nightstands work great.   . as soon as you hear ( :cd )  dont   just roll over and pop those ear plugs in.          gotta love agricultural zoning and the ability to have an unlimited amount of poultry in my state. 

My neighbor has a very loud dog. I don't really mind because they get to listen to my roosters. I was relieved to hear that they like to listen to them crow. After all I have 12 . As of now only 6 crow. He was really surprised to hear that I have as many as I do.

I plan to reduce by 4-5 after I see how my greenfire cockerels shape up.

 

[ChicKat]

So interesting about the roosters. I think some of the crowing goes to divert threats.
If the cockerel thinks someone is going to out rank him he will crow to show he's bigger-better-smarter. The other time mine crowed a lot was when there was a threat like hawk, raccoon, snake, stray calf.. etc. -- Chicken behavior is fascinating.

Steen... someway, we need to capture your 'ear plugs work great' animation for posterity - store it in the club house -- and access it when we need a light-hearted moment. Think I will go over there and add a topic called "cartoons". ;O)