HELP!!!! Several Free Range Breeds!!!

[mthomure]

I need help!! I have 48 hens and 1 rooster they include 8 Australorp hens, 6 barred rocks, 3 buff hens and the rooster is a buff. The rest are RIR. All free range together.

Ok so here is my issue....we want to start raising our own Australorp and Barred Rock. Which requires us to purchase the rooster for the hens. One I am afraid of introducing roosters to a very well behaved flock. Second, I want to be able to breed my hens for a few days and then turn out to free range again. How long do you isolate them with to make sure you have fertilized eggs? Is there a problem when you turn the rooster back out with the free range chickens? Has anyone did this and is it even possible?

Thanks for all your advice.

 

[Folly's place]

Your hens will need to isolated from other roosters for about three weeks before their eggs will be sired by the right one. Lots of separate pens! It will take some management changes to make this possible, at least during your breeding season. Mary

 

[mthomure]

Mary thanks for the reply...all about details.. How long after the rooster before fertile eggs? 10 days or however long it takes to get enough eggs to hatch?

 

[Ridgerunner]

It takes about 25 hours for an egg to make its way through the hen’s internal egg making factory once the yolk starts its journey. It can only be fertilized during the first few minutes of that journey. That means if a mating takes place on a Monday, Monday’s egg is definitely not fertile. Tuesday’s egg might be fertile depending on when the egg started its journey and when the mating takes place, but I would not count on it. Wednesday’s egg will be fertile.

Note that this is after a successful mating. A rooster does not necessarily mate every hen in the flock every day. He doesn’t have to.

After the rooster hops off after a successful mating, the hen stands up, fluffs up her feathers, and shakes. This fluffy shake gets the sperm in a special pouch near where the egg starts its journey. It can remain viable there for quite some time. We normally count on it staying viable for two weeks but sometimes it can last three weeks or maybe even a day or two more. So you need to wait at least three weeks and maybe a few days more after separating the hen from the rooster before you are absolutely certain the new rooster will be the father of the chicks.

Those were easy to answer. The question about rooster behavior is impossible to answer for sure. They are living animals, they don’t come with guarantees. When you introduce adult roosters they will determine which one is boss. That generally involves some fighting. It could be a fight to the death but a lot of that depends on the individual roosters. How much room you have makes a big difference too.

With the breeds you are talking about what normally happens if you have a lot of room is that they fight for a bit but one eventually decides he is better off running away. He needs to have enough room to run away. The winner will chase some and there may be a few rematches but eventually they reach an agreement on how to take care of the flock. Each will usually get his own harem and they split the territory so they can avoid each other. That’s another reason extra room is important.

Sometimes one rooster just won’t quit until one of them is dead. Sometimes one gets injured in these fights. If one is injured the other is likely to really try hard to kill it. Most of the time they reach an accommodation and work really well together to protect the flock but each time you separate then reintroduce them you are taking a chance. I can’t give you guarantees one way or the other.