How long fertile?

[emptynester]

generally speaking, how long can a hen produce "fertile" eggs after being mated by a rooster? In other words, once a hen and rooster mate, and the rooster is taken away, how long would the hen's eggs be fertile?

 

[floridachickhatcher]

i believe its a week

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

Some say 2-3 weeks even

 

[Saltysteele]

i've read they can store the semen 3 weeks, up to 4 even

 

[dospuercos]

I got this off the MS State Dept of Poultry Science Website. Hope it answers your question.

"How long do hens produce fertile eggs after being separated from the rooster?
If the rooster in a flock dies or is removed, the hens continue to produce fertile eggs for up to four weeks, depending on bird species. This is because there are "sperm nest" areas located in the oviduct of hens that collect and store semen for later fertilization of eggs. This is a natural survival mechanism for the production of a series of fertile hatching eggs even after the male is not available.
The period of time that fertile eggs are produced without additional matings can extend to several weeks. If a rooster is removed from the flock and replaced by another, it may require three weeks before it can be assured that all eggs will produce chicks sired by the new rooster. The proportion of chicks sired by the new rooster increases during this period but some chicks sired by the old rooster may hatch. Birds like turkeys and waterfowl have longer periods during which fertile eggs can be produced without matings."

The link is http://www.poultry.msstate.edu/extension/detail.php?detail=faq
They have lots of great info about raising chickens!

 

[cmom]

Quote:
Excellent link!!!

I usually wait 3 weeks for a new Roo to fertilize eggs that I want to hatch. Every once in awhile during the 3 weeks I break open some of the eggs to check them to see if they are fertile. After 3 weeks generally all that I open are fertile. I think that if a Roo dies just the opposite is true and the eggs will be fertile for approximately 3 weeks.