Free range and selective breeding questions

[laura625]

[=][/]My birds wil be free ranging with others including
Roosters.when i want to breed a certain roo to certain hens, I have a pasture where i can isolate them.
But i hve 3 questions:
1. Ill assume the hens were bred by Unknown roo while out ranging.
so, would I have to wait 2 weeks from after shes penned with the "right" roo before I can expect her eggs to be the ones i want to hatch?

2. Is there a way that is ok to mark eggs (Say with a date) before putting them in incubator?

3, what happens when a roo mates with a hen whos eggs have already been fertilized?

THANK YOUø

 

[laura625]

Is this in the wrong forum?
(Bump)

 

[donrae]

I've heard a hen can store sperm up to two weeks, but a lot of folks who want to seriously breed have a 3 week waiting period before incubating, to be absolute the desired roo is the father.

I don't know about marking eggs, maybe ask on the incubating section? I know folks DO mark eggs, I just don't know with what.

As I understand it, after mating the hen stores the sperm internally. As the egg is formed inside her, the sperm fertilized the egg. So, mating with multiple roos leads to different roo's sperm being stored internally and potentially fertilizing eggs as they're formed.

Does that help? Re-reading it, it seems clear as mud!

 

[laura625]

Thank you so much.
Quite heloful indeed.
Guess I read mud

 

[DanEP]

You can mark eggs with a pencil and I always separate out the breeder hens for 3 weeks at least my last batch of white rocks 3 wasn't enough I still got 2 black chicks.

 

[Cheapchicksfarm]

I separate 2-3 weeks before keeping eggs and then mark eggs with a pencil

 

[laura625]

Thank you

 

[Ridgerunner]

Like DanEP said, three weeks is sometimes not enough, though a lot of people use three weeks. Two weeks is definitely not enough. I generally go with four weeks.

I use a Sharpie to mark the eggs. If I set them under a broody, I just draw a circle around the egg so I can see the mark amd daily remove any unmarked eggs. In the incubator, I generally just write a number on them in acouple of places so I can tell one from the other. These are generally numbered sequentially with the oldest having the lower number, but that is just the way it works out, no other real reason. I like to be able to tell which ones have pipped and such during hatch and how long a specific egg has been pipped. Since I start them all at the same time, I don't see any benefit to writing a date on them, but many people do. Just cone up with a marking system that fits your needs.

In an incubator it probably does not matter that much, but if you set the eggs under a broody and you mark with a pencil, use a soft-leaded pencil, a number 1 or number 2. The pencil lead can wear off a bit and be hard to see if you use a hard-leaded pencil. When I used to use a pencil, I'd turn it sideways and make a thick dark mark so I could easily see it. I did not write dates or anything. I just wanted to know which egg was supposed to be under the broody.

 

[laura625]

Thankyou. Glad to know i can use a sharpie. Doubt my old eyes could see pencil