egg fertilizing questions

[jojo54]

These may seem like weird questions but I really don't know much about chickens and roosters. When they mate is it for only one egg? Since a number of eggs are being produced in a chicken at any given time, how many days after mating will you have a fertilized egg? Also if you have more than one rooster what would happen if they both mated with the chicken? Would they fertilize different eggs in the same day? Sorry to be so thick.

 

[rittert3]

Good questions, but I'm not sure I completly know the answers so I'm going to sit back and learn along for the most part. There was a similar thread last week and I do know that a hen can "store" and produce several fertile eggs from one mating. The thread last week was asking about changing roosters and hen the eggs would all be fertilized by the new one, there were stories of eggs being laid that would be fertilized by the old roo upto a month after he was gone. I hope somebody with more knowledge can add to that and answer your other questions too, I'm curious myself.

 

[Kittymomma]

If I'm thinking about eggs for setting I figure the hen is fertile for about a week. If I want to make sure a particular roo is the daddy she goes into an all girl pen and her eggs get checked for fertility until I don't see the bulls eye for several days, and then the new roo is brought in. Her eggs will usually be fertile for 7-14 days after breeding, but can be fertile for up to a month. It varies quite a bit by hen/roo, but that is the general rule of thumb around here.

 

[fordmommy]

Quote:
Yes!

 

[Penturner]

How long a hen can be fertile from a given Roo is pretty specific to the Roo. His age, fertility, overall health etc. only one Roo will fertilize an given egg. even that there can be exceptions such as double yolk eggs. there is just no way of knowing which one. SO in theory if you had a hen in with two different Roos every other egg could be fertilized by a different one for up to a month or more. Some types of chickens could very well remain fertile for longer than others. Some wild birds can breed in the spring and then can lay fertile eggs all summer long.

 

[jojo54]

Thanks for all the info!

I really didn't have a clue.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I think your specific questions have been answered. I'll try one you did not ask. It might come in helpful.

It takes an egg about 25 hours to go through a hen's internal egg laying factory. It can only be fertilized for the first 15 minutes of that journey. Say a hen and rooster mate on a Monday. Monday's egg will not be fertile. Depending on where it is in the egg laying factory when the mating took place, Tuesday's egg may or may not be fertile. I would not count on it. If they successfully mated on Monday, Wednesday's egg is almost certain to be fertile.

Please note that I said after a successful mating. A rooster does not necessarily mate with every hen in the flock as soon as they are introduced. How depends on the roosters age, health, personality and vigor as well as the number of hensand whether the hens cooperate.

 

[raimnel]

Ok lets get a little deeper in this topic...........
I have a silkie roo who tries his thing with a EE, will he be succsessful? where does his hmmm hmmm hmmm come from and where does it have to get to on the hen? Her vent? her back? I am so clueless!! I think I need chicken 101.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Vent to vent

 

[Kittymomma]

Quote:
Yep. If you're not sure he's getting the job done and if he's the only roo you can check her eggs for the bulls eye to see if they're fertile.