How long are eggs fertilized?

[Crashnot]

I bought two French Faverolle hens on Tuesday. They were kept in a coop with a bunch of Banty roosters, and suffered a bit in the process. I also got the Faverolle rooster and am hoping to get some eggs for hatching from the match.

How long will eggs be fertilized from whatever the Banties were able to do? I'm pretty up on breeding for horses, dogs, cattle and cats, but I have no idea how this stuff works in birds

At this point, the Faverolle rooster isn't trying to even mount the hens, so I'm hoping once they've settled in and everyone has recovered from the banty harassment, he'll get some interest!

Lisa in Ontario

 

[elmo]

If the rooster was mating with these hens effectively, I've read that the hen can retain the sperm and lay fertilized eggs for up to two weeks after the rooster is no longer mating with her.

Sometimes, though, when a bantam rooster mates with a standard size hen, he can't really reach the right spot to do the job effectively.

 

[Crashnot]

I was kind of wondering about the size issue! Guess we'll just give them a few weeks to settle in and see what happens!

 

[Julie08]

Welcome neighbour!

You would be pretty safe to wait two weeks however I have heard up to a month but it is rare.

 

[Brickman House]

Most who are breeding and selling purebred hatching eggs will wait a month, to be absolutely sure.