How many is TOO many?

[aart]

The 10-14 hens/rooster is so the rooster doesn't overmate the hens and cause the hens to have problems.

Nah....
The 'rooster' to hen ratio of 1:10 that is often cited is primarily for fertility efficiency in commercial breeding facilities.
It doesn't mean that if a cockbird has 10 hens that he won't abuse or over mate them.
Many breeders keep pairs, trios, quads, etc
It all depends on the temperaments of the cock and hens and sometimes housing provided.
Backyard flocks can achieve good fertility with a larger ratio.

 

[ValerieJ]

FWIW, every egg I have cracked is fertile.

Really? How can you tell?

 

[Mimi13]

Really? How can you tell?

Because every fertile egg has a teeny, tiny feather in it.

No, no, I’m just kidding.

Every egg, whether fertilized or not carries DNA that can be seen. The hen’s DNA appears as a white dot on the yolk’s surface. Once fertilized, the male’s DNA adds a white ring around the dot and appears as a bullseye. It is very interesting indeed.

I will post a pic in just a bit. I’ve gotta find it.

 

[ValerieJ]

Every egg, whether fertilized or not carries DNA that can be seen. The hen’s DNA appears as a white dot on the yolk’s surface. Once fertilized, the male’s DNA adds a white ring around the dot and appears as a bullseye. It is very interesting indeed.

Interesting.

 

[aart]

Because every fertile egg has a teeny, tiny feather in it.

 

[EggWalrus]

I just didn’t want him to over exert himself. Wouldn’t you know, I’d be the one to finally find a good rooster and the dang thing dies from overmating.

Reminds me of the old, and I mean old, joke about the rather amorous rooster who had bred all his hens to death. One day the farmer looked out and saw his rooster laying on the ground, presumably dead. The old farmer gets his shovel and heads out to bury the rooster. As the farmer nears, the rooster opens one eye and tells him, “Get back inside. The buzzards are circling. Surely one of them is about to land.” I honestly don’t have a clue how I even remembered that. Usually it is a long drawn out joke with the rooster mating everything in sight until there is nothing left to mate.

You beat me to it!
I was just about to tell that joke, I was trying to think of a way to clean it up for our younger members. You give an excellent rendition of it!

 

[Mimi13]

You beat me to it!
I was just about to tell that joke, I was trying to think of a way to clean it up for our younger members. You give an excellent rendition of it!

Yep, that was a good old joke.

 

[Mimi13]

View attachment 1887267

Thank you @aart. I cannot for the life of me find my picture. Surely to goodness I didn’t delete it.

ETA: Is there a way to pull up pictures that I’ve posted on here?

 

[aart]

ETA: Is there a way to pull up pictures that I’ve posted on here?

Sadly, no....unless you search it out.
If you put them in a BYC media album, then you can link them.
Or save them on your hard drive and then copy/paste from photo software into posts.
If you're using a mobile device, I have no clue.

 

[Mimi13]

Sadly, no....unless you search it out.
If you put them in a BYC media album, then you can link them.
Or save them on your hard drive and then copy/paste from photo software into posts.
If you're using a mobile device, I have no clue.

Yes, sadly I always use my phone so I’m limited. I guess I do need to put some pics in a separate media album. Thank you though.