how old is too old for a roo

[abhaya]

will a roo be able to fertileize eggs his entire life once he starts?

 

[sourland]

Depends on the individual and the breed. Outcrossed, vigorous breeds tend to remain fertile their entire lifetime; whereas, inbred less vigorous strains lose fertility earlier.

 

[peacockfarmer1]

a rooster is fertile until he is about 4 or 5 from my experiance

 

[Bantimna]

It depends on the breed, and on the roosters health.
Healthy, vigorous breeds tend to be fertile for a number of years, but with all things as they start to age their fertility also decreases. If you have a old rooster he should be able to do his "job", but there are many factors that determine how fertile he'll be.

 

[abhaya]

Cool my boy is young about a year old I was judt wondering how long he would be doing his jog

 

[saladin]

Quote:
I agree with the first sentence. The last sentence is very misleading.

Many breeders desire highly inbred lines. To maintain these lines we choose on the most vigorous of stock; otherwise you'd lose the line.

A good highly inbred cock with no health problems should be fertile for years and years. I have used inbred cocks that were over 10 years of age. Granted, I used them with pullets and only single mated, but the cocks were fertile nonetheless.

 

[sourland]

Inbred "less vigorous." Nothing was mentioned about those instances where fertility has been selected for along with other traits. Case in point: I had a friend who had a flock of white crested black Polish bantams that was derived from a single pair. I had the incubator and did all of his hatching. Most of his roosters were non fertile by their second year. A trait that he had inadvertantly selected for as he selected for type. I am fully aware that fertility need not diminish in any species simply because of inbreeding. I made a living working with inbred rat and mouse strains. "Less vigorous" was included so that my post would not be misleading.

 

[saladin]

sourland,
What I found misleading was the contrast between vigourous outcross and less vigourous inbred; that's all. I just wanted to make it clear that inbreeding need not lead to less vigour.

 

[sourland]

I could have, should have been more clear. I raise dogs and pigeons for competition and know the importance of in/line breeding. The lack of clarity was definately on my part.

 

[DPC poultry]

when do they start?