I feel naive asking but...how is it done?

[rodriguezpoultry]

Quote:
Yep.. "the cloacal kiss" is the term for it. The male is on the female, the female turns the tail up so that his vent can press against her. By moving her tail out of the way (generally upwards) she opens her vent exposing the reproductive tract.

 

[NYREDS]

And the female actually draws the semen in.She generates a slight vacuum.

 

[loverOFchickens]

There is a sack bag with the sperm in the male.
The female accepts it into her vent.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

sack bag??? You mean the testes?

 

[Mrs. Glassman]

I'm glad the OP asked this....

You don't know how many times I've leaned my head way down trying to figure out what was going on down there. I knew they were mating, of course, but,

It happens so fast.......



Glad I'm not a chicken.

 

[aveca]

On tims RID project; off topic but saw it in his post
Experimenting with a Barred Rhode Island Red and perfecting a Silver Rhode Island. Go to my website to see pictures.

http://adkersonfarm.webs.com/poultryonthefarm.htm

Very cool project . There was a man in britian who created a new breed called the chequred , maybe sussex ceckered (sp), he felt that a certian barred chicken breed had an unfinished look to it, so he bred a rosecomb type look to this barred breed , The results were dramatic and he is being celebrated for this new breed. they are breeding true.

 

[beak]

Very interesting post and responses. That's the kind of stuff you can just bring up when you're talking about chickens. Hey did you know?

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
I have to say that I was so used to chickens and parrots.. that the first time I saw a duck's phallus, I was shocked and a bit shaken for about a week. I thought something was wrong with him at first as it looked a bit like spiraled intestine.

Learn from my (once) ignorance.

Looking back on it, it's pretty funny.

 

[insiderart]

It's all biology. Learning is good! Nothing about which to be embarassed, nor for which to dance around the correct terms.

Another interesting tidbit.. after insemination a hen can hold sperm in her oviducts for up to 4 weeks. Thereby producing fertile eggs for up to a month (sometimes longer) without a rooster being present (i.e. another copulatory or insemination event).

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

Quote:
So if for example a hen was with Rooster #1 for a few days, through mating, and taken away, her eggs would be fertile with...umm...his offspring. If the hen was put with Rooster #2 for a few days and the next few eggs after mating with #2 were incubated, would they dad be the older rooster (#1) or newer rooster (#2)? I've been biting to ask.