fertility

[ruralmom]

How long should I wait after introducing a roo to the hens before I can start incubating the eggs? Do you ever get 100% hatching rate? I have had very bad luck with purchased eggs? Thank you

 

[Ridgerunner]

It takes at least two days for a hen's eggs to be fertile after mating witha rooster. It takes 25 hours for an egg to make it through a hen's laying factory. The first 15 minutes is when the egg is fertilized. So, if a rooster mates with a hen on Monday, Tuesday's egg has already started the journey inside the hen and has passed the point where it is fertilzed. Wednesday's egg will probably be fertile.

When a hen mates with a rooster, the eggs will normally be fertile for about two weeks.

A rooster does not mate with every hen every day. It depends on how many hens there are for each rooster and how vigorous the rooster is, but it can sometimes take several days after introducing a rooster to a flock for all eggs to be fertile.

This site tells you how to tell if an egg is fertile. Unfortunately you have to crack an egg to check it, but if it is fertile, the eggs the hen lays after it should be fertile.

Fertile Egg Pictures
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=16008

 

[ruralmom]

Thank you for the info.