Inept Roo?

[SkyWarrior]

This is sort of a delicate question.

I have an awesome EE roo that I think is inept with the ladies. He seems to, uh, MISS even though he goes though the motions. My girls are getting sort of annoyed with him. I tried incubating one of the eggs he should have fertilized with the Barnevelder eggs for the New Year's Hatch, and I'm pretty sure it's not fertilized.

He's about a year old. Thoughts?

 

[chickchicks]

draw him a map!



sorry could not resist i have that problem my poor girl is a mess with his missjudgement! i think it will come with practice .

im not too bothered as im not planning on eggs heis just there cause hes there at the moment and he looks pretty !

hope he works it out for you

 

[greenriver]

He should get it with practice but would not rely on one rooster unless he is proven.

Start looking for a replacement

 

[Orpi]

Is there a possibility that he might not reach the proper place when transfering? It might help to cut feathers at the roo and the hens in the area (Orpington have that problem a lot).

The other possibility is, that the chicken do not have 14 hours with light. Rooster need at least 14 hours light the produce a semen being alive.

Or your rooster needs a diet since fat rooster can´t produce good semen.

 

[cravenchx]

I'm so glad someone asked this.
My 6 month old EE roo will sometimes
miss also. I just thought it was the
teenage years! I'm not trying for
fertilized eggs though.

 

[gmendoza]

It happens with roos.They miss the"surf".

The need to practice surfing til one day......

COWABUNGA!! SURFS UP...........so to speak.

 

[galanie]

My young guy is like that with the biggest hen. He leaves packages everywhere lol. I posted a question about it and everyone seems to think he'll get better with practice. But I noticed it may not be totally his fault. That hen doesn't always pick her tail up enough. They are Orps and yes, the feathers around both vents have been clipped almost to the skin in an area a little bigger than the diameter of a golf ball. Otherwise I can't even find the vent myself! Seriously, there is so much fluff on these birds it'd be a wonder they ever reproduced without a clip but they do sometimes lol.

I've been told that all serious breeders of all breeds make sure the area around the vents of their breeding stock are clear of feather. Most keep them plucked out from what I've read but clipping works too.

 

[al6517]

Quote:
Ditto X2................... reduce his harem to just a few hens, put him with older better more experienced hen's, pull vent feathers from all parties invovled, I have found that untrimmed vent feathers in those super poofy feathered breeds are the number 1 cause of infertility. pull them don't trim to about a 2" circle around the vent, recheck fertility in 10 day's, feed him a handfull of wheat seed or wheat germ daily for a few day's to boost his sample size and potency.

 

[galanie]

Quote:
Ditto X2................... reduce his harem to just a few hens, put him with older better more experienced hen's, pull vent feathers from all parties invovled, I have found that untrimmed vent feathers in those super poofy feathered breeds are the number 1 cause of infertility. pull them don't trim to about a 2" circle around the vent, recheck fertility in 10 day's, feed him a handfull of wheat seed or wheat germ daily for a few day's to boost his sample size and potency.

Aye, with my barred rock and dark cornish, the eggs are 100% fertile. Of course they are, since I dont' want to hatch any of those!

But the one I DO want to get fertile eggs from, well it looks like he may have finally had some success. I'll be breaking her eggs open from yesterday and today and take a look.

ETA: The problem I have with plucking is that the start growing back instantly. Then he has a forest of porcupine blood feathers back there. Argh. So much rooster butt, so little time...

 

[GAchick]

Have you examined any other eggs from the hens he is with for the 'bullseye' on the yolk? I wouldn't go by just one egg, as far as his fertilisation technique goes. The one barnvelder egg you tried to hatch may not have been fertile, but that may or may not be the case with other eggs. Crack open a few, and look for evidence of fertilisation in some of the other eggs she is laying.