- Apr 24, 2014
- 24
- 1
- 34
Well, here's our situation. This is our 2nd year raising chickens. We never wanted a Rooster really. We got 6 pullets from TSC the first year, lost two as chicks. Then 2 weeks later ended up with 2 Black Australorps, an EE, a BO, a Dominique and adopted a Bantam white leghorn from the neighbor. This year we hot 3 more BO, 3 Barred Rocks, an Isa Brown, 2 Columbian Wyandottes and 3 more EE! Ahhh! I know its a lot but we have the property for free ranging and a huge coop. We haven't yet "formally" introduced the 2nd batch to the 1st, but the coops are adjacent to each other separated by a chicken wire wall until the 2nd batch of girls start to lay. We will put in a small "door" so that they can go back and forth eventually. The second batch watch the older girls and pick up their habits.
Now for the big question...The two Australorps, Morticia and Lillian, go broody. So does the Dominique, Domino and my BO, Cinnamon.We try to break them of it, but usually end up seeing them back in their nesting box later.
This year, we were surprised to learn that our 2nd batch had provided us with our first Rooster, an EE we call Rembrandt. Obviously we weren't expecting him, however, we thought we would give it a try. He is gorgeous. I would post a pic, but his coloring has changed so much from the first "Do I have a Rooster? " question i posted. He is also not mean to us and we handle him quite often. He will also eat out of our hand.
Yesterday, I noticed Lillian sitting in the box all day again and today we decided to put Lillian in the coop with the Rembrandt. He started dancing around her, and she let him get near him without a problem. Then...he grabbed her neck, jumped on her shoulders and tucked his butt under her for about 2 seconds and then jumped off. I am assuming this was chicken sex! Lol
Now my question is, what happens next? Since she just started to go broody yesterday, and he was successful at his endeavor of fertilizing her, will she then lay a clutch? Or because she already started to becoming broody, do we try to break her of it so she will lay fertile eggs? Or will she start laying because of her rendezvous with Rembrandt? She usually doesn't lay for a few weeks if we can't break her of her broodiness. So i am concerned she
won't lay any? How long does the sperm (is it called that in a Rooster? Lol) remain viable in her? Also, many times in the past we notice that she pulls the other girls eggs under her. As of now, we get between 7 and 9 eggs a day from the 10 of the older girls. We gather the eggs two to three times a day, especially if one is broody, even though none have had "relations" with a Rooster. I do know which eggs are hers when she lays, so they can be identified and marked if she lays. We don't want to order eggs for her to hatch. As I said, we weren't planning on getting a rooster just yet, but we weren't devestated that we got one either.
Since we found out she was a he, we had tossed around the idea of hatching our own chicks. There was talk of incubators and such, but we decided to just "see what happens" and they gave us an eye full today.
I don't want to sound ignorant, but i know virtually nothing on how to breed them. She is in a nesting box thatbis elevated about 20 inches, however, there is an area underneath that we can put her in to protect her and the chicks should we be so lucky. When the 2nd batch were a few weeks old, she was broody and i brought 2 chicks to her and she was VERY motherly. I guess i just wanted to see what she would do.
So, sorry for the epic novel, but i felt i needed to provide details for folks to understand where we are at now. Oh amd one more question...now that Rembrandt has demonstrated his sexual prowess, do we expose him to the other hens to see if maybe he would do the same with some of the other hens and then have Lillian sit on them? I am just so at a loss as to what to do and i really need some solid advice. Thank you in advance for shedding some light on this for us. I couldn't find anything anywhere that could answer the questions i had. I am hoping you will be able to help!
Now for the big question...The two Australorps, Morticia and Lillian, go broody. So does the Dominique, Domino and my BO, Cinnamon.We try to break them of it, but usually end up seeing them back in their nesting box later.
This year, we were surprised to learn that our 2nd batch had provided us with our first Rooster, an EE we call Rembrandt. Obviously we weren't expecting him, however, we thought we would give it a try. He is gorgeous. I would post a pic, but his coloring has changed so much from the first "Do I have a Rooster? " question i posted. He is also not mean to us and we handle him quite often. He will also eat out of our hand.
Yesterday, I noticed Lillian sitting in the box all day again and today we decided to put Lillian in the coop with the Rembrandt. He started dancing around her, and she let him get near him without a problem. Then...he grabbed her neck, jumped on her shoulders and tucked his butt under her for about 2 seconds and then jumped off. I am assuming this was chicken sex! Lol
Now my question is, what happens next? Since she just started to go broody yesterday, and he was successful at his endeavor of fertilizing her, will she then lay a clutch? Or because she already started to becoming broody, do we try to break her of it so she will lay fertile eggs? Or will she start laying because of her rendezvous with Rembrandt? She usually doesn't lay for a few weeks if we can't break her of her broodiness. So i am concerned she
won't lay any? How long does the sperm (is it called that in a Rooster? Lol) remain viable in her? Also, many times in the past we notice that she pulls the other girls eggs under her. As of now, we get between 7 and 9 eggs a day from the 10 of the older girls. We gather the eggs two to three times a day, especially if one is broody, even though none have had "relations" with a Rooster. I do know which eggs are hers when she lays, so they can be identified and marked if she lays. We don't want to order eggs for her to hatch. As I said, we weren't planning on getting a rooster just yet, but we weren't devestated that we got one either.
Since we found out she was a he, we had tossed around the idea of hatching our own chicks. There was talk of incubators and such, but we decided to just "see what happens" and they gave us an eye full today.
I don't want to sound ignorant, but i know virtually nothing on how to breed them. She is in a nesting box thatbis elevated about 20 inches, however, there is an area underneath that we can put her in to protect her and the chicks should we be so lucky. When the 2nd batch were a few weeks old, she was broody and i brought 2 chicks to her and she was VERY motherly. I guess i just wanted to see what she would do.
So, sorry for the epic novel, but i felt i needed to provide details for folks to understand where we are at now. Oh amd one more question...now that Rembrandt has demonstrated his sexual prowess, do we expose him to the other hens to see if maybe he would do the same with some of the other hens and then have Lillian sit on them? I am just so at a loss as to what to do and i really need some solid advice. Thank you in advance for shedding some light on this for us. I couldn't find anything anywhere that could answer the questions i had. I am hoping you will be able to help!
