Have some Black Copper Marans and some ameracanas,and a few other mixed breeds in the same pen,was wondering how long i need to keep them apart so i can have pure breed chicks,i have 2 maran roosters and a ameracana rooster,i want to seperate them so i can have purebred chicks,so how long should they be apart before the eggs wont have a mixed breed?All 3 of the roosters are active with the ladies,need to know how long to wait before i set the eggs. Harvey
At least three weeks since a rooster's sperm can be retained by a hen for that long. Sometimes even longer, I hatched a mixed chick five weeks after separating birds once.
Bare minimum of 2 weeks. Even at that point, you'll need to keep an open mind about the possibilities of mixed chicks. A month is usually safe.
Those are very true statements, but once separated the possibility of getting a purebred chick goes up tremendously after just a few days. University studies show that the newest sperm is "preferred", sort of a "last in, first out" scenario. Where the pedigree is very important and the chicks indistinguishable, 3 weeks is the rule I've heard most. If you can id the chicks are purebreds, then you can start setting eggs immediately and you should get very few mixes, unless your roo is shooting blanks.
