Fertile Egg Question...

[ChickensXOXO]

Not exactly sure how to ask this, but let's see if I can make sense.

When a roo mates a hen, how many fertile eggs will she get from him?

Like if she was with him for a few days, then you took him out.

Someone told me Finches could mate for a few days, then she could lay a bunch of fertile eggs even after you separate them.

Has me wondering how it works with chickens, as I thought they needed to be mated for each egg...

Thanks in advance!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'll probably give you more information than you want to know.

When chickens mate, the sperm can fertilize eggs for somewhere between 9 days to over three weeks. Most people use two weeks and this works for them almost all the time, but they are living animals. They are not all alike. When the hen does the "fluffy shake" after a mating, she is positioning the sperm properly in her system. There is a reason she does that shake.

If you want to make sure a hen is fertile by a specific rooster, she needs to be isolated from any other rooster for at least three weeks, and four weeks is even more sure.

It takes an egg about 25 hours to go through the hen's internal egg laying factory. The egg can only be fertilized in the first 15 minutes of this journey. This means if a hen is mated on a Sunday, Sunday's egg will not be fertile. It's window of opportunity was Saturday. Monday's egg might or might not be fertile, depending on what time of day the mating took place relative to the egg starting its journey. Tuesday's egg is almost certain to be fertile.

This assumes a successful mating, not just that the rooster had access to the hen.

 

[ChickensXOXO]

Thanks! Very helpful!

I never would have thought that either...