Does rooster influence layer egg size ANSWERED

[bobbieschicks]

I don't have enough experience with this to know so this may be a dumb question but I had this thought and I couldn't find the answer.

Will the size of the mating rooster have any influence on the size of the egg being produced by a current laying pullet? For instance, a LF pullet who has been laying a medium size egg, will she continue to lay medium size eggs even if she starts being mated by a bantam size rooster? Or will she start to produce smaller eggs?

I ask this because I had determined to get rid of excess roosters and suddenly it occurred to me that if I keep only the silkie rooster I might only get silkie size eggs from my layers, and that won't do.

Edited to say I tried different verbage for the sentence in the search feature and got the answer that the rooster will only matter for the next generation and the pullet will lay the size eggs she was already laying. I love this new search, it's so much more user friendly!

 

[Den in Penn]

The egg size remains the same. Think of it as an expression of the genes. The hens genes are set when the egg she hatched from was fertilized. All her body parts were then developed as per her blueprint. A rooster can change neither the color of her feet or the size of her eggs.

 

[galanie]

Very true. But. If said roo is the hen's "dad" then he does influence egg laying. Somehow the hen determines size and shape of offspring while the rooster determines color for the most part. In addition, the resulting offspring will lay however well the rooster's line does. Not sure if egg size is affected but I know that laying frequency is.

 

[Den in Penn]

I see she had already gotten her answer by redefining her search. I feel like the kid in class who finally knows the anwser, only to have the teacher not ask the question. Just part of my being confused. But good for you bobbieschicks for finding out on your on.

 

[aoxa]

Off topic, but your roo is so cute!

ETA: My silkie roo can not mate with the larger hens. I don't know why, but he just does not have the agility to catch them and complete the process. Maybe it's because my standard chickens are big standard chickens.. The two small standards I have are just to fast for him to catch.

 

[bobbieschicks]

Thanks - he's just too pretty to rehome or eat LOL! He tries his best to mate the LF girls. He was on top of one of the LO pullets immediately AFTER the LO roo finished his job - just climbed right on light it was a carnival ride. He cracks me up. I am a little concerned that he will get injured if he tries to mate my WL, AC or EE as they don't even like the WL roo to mate them - but he was big enough to force the issue. But I think I will have some fun watching him try.

Off topic, but your roo is so cute!

ETA: My silkie roo can not mate with the larger hens. I don't know why, but he just does not have the agility to catch them and complete the process. Maybe it's because my standard chickens are big standard chickens.. The two small standards I have are just to fast for him to catch.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

My silkie roo had no problem whatsoever mating the LF girls. It took him a while to get the hang of the chicken mambo, but he produced more chicks then the other 4 roos that lived here at the same time as him!

 

[bobbieschicks]

My silkie roo had no problem whatsoever mating the LF girls. It took him a while to get the hang of the chicken mambo, but he produced more chicks then the other 4 roos that lived here at the same time as him!

So we're most of his offspring LF size or bantam size? Because that could make for some cool looking chickens.

 

[galanie]

Thanks - he's just too pretty to rehome or eat LOL!  He tries his best to mate the LF girls.  He was on top of one of the LO pullets immediately AFTER the LO roo finished his job - just climbed right on light it was a carnival ride.  He cracks me up.  I am a little concerned that he will get injured if he tries to mate my WL, AC or EE as they don't even like the WL roo to mate them - but he was big enough to force the issue.  But I think I will have some fun watching him try.

LOL I had a little roo trying to do that with a meat bird and all I could do is laugh and say "RIDE EM COWBOY!" - it looked just like he was trying to ride a horse or something.

 

[Akita]

Now, I just put my little bantam rooster in with my large hens about 3 weeks ago. One of the hens laid a very tiny egg today. She has never before laid a tiny egg. Are you sure rooster size doesn't affect egg size?