Does the Roo have to fertilize each individual egg?

[MissEllieMae]

I'm new to the incubating world. The thing is...I had 14 eggs in the bater but only 4 developed into chicks.

The others weren't fertile.

So what I want to know is, does the rooster have to "do his deed" every day to get a fertile egg every day???

 

[PortageGirl]

Nope! Once works for quite a while actually, hopefully someone here with more knowledge then me will tell us about how long... I don't know specifics but I do know it's not an every day thing. Is there a chance some of the infertile ones were gathered before the roo visited his hen?

 

[speckledhen]

From experience, the hen is fertile for about two weeks, three at the outside, though there have been very rare instances of it at four weeks or more.

 

[PortageGirl]

OH!!! And WELCOME to BYC!!!

 

[swtangel321]

Is it cold where you are ?? Winter temps can do a lot to fertile eggs !!

 

[MissEllieMae]

Thanks for the welcome and the great info.

I had no idea that one time would last that long!

Chickens are awesome!!
I had bought the eggs I was bating from a local breeder, so I don't know what was going on in the hen house. But I was soooo exited when the chicks began to peep through the eggs.

My kids were amazed.

They went back and forth to the bater all day watching the progress. I found it hard myself to keep waiting for them to come out by themselves. It took soooo long.

 

[joebryant]

Quote:
How long did you leave the other eggs in after the four hatched. It's VERY possible that some or all of the others would have hatched within another three days, and maybe longer.

 

[MissEllieMae]

I candled the others...they were clear.

 

[dirtdoctor]

Ah the wonders of nature. Mr Roo has only to provide once a week and your hens eggs will be fertile.... give or take a few.