I am sure this question has been asked before but i am going to ask it again. Here goes, how long after i put a rooster in my coop do i wait before i can think about incubating eggs. I have a friend who wants some chicks and i just got my rooster, he is a very beautiful phoenix, silver i think. I am pretty well educated on incubating but i can't seem to find a post on how long to wait to see if i am going to be able to check for fertilized eggs. If anyone can answer this it would be much appreciated.
From what I can recall, it takes about three weeks for eggs to become fertile after mating has occurred. But, when a new roo is introduced, it will take a while before the hens accept him, so I would probably give it about two months. this is my recollection, but I cannot attest to the accuracy. Maybe someone els e will chime in.
If the rooster is new to your flock please be sure you practice good biosecurity. I urge you to read this thread. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=30851 Once he is put in with the hens it could be as soon as a couple days. The first egg formed after he is mating the hens can be fertile. You also have to remember your hens may not let a new rooster mate them right away. He will have to earn the privilege of mating them.
thank you very much for your replies and concerns and i know he knows the hen i plan to mate him with because i bought the hen from the same person. I also have a chick at the moment that he fathered from this very hen. I just didn't know and now i am better informed. I didn't know anything about the whole quarentine thing and now plan to use that method in the future.