Is my roo "getting the JOB" done??? (PIC'S ADDED)

[k2chickens]

Well i am trying to breed my banty D'Uccle rooster to my silkie hen. He likes her ALOT...lol but when i watch them...um "rock the cazbah" when they are free ranging...it seems as if my rooster just spreads his wings...pecks ahold of her top knot and shakes for a few seconds on her back right in front of her tail poof. It looks as if for a SPLIT SECOND he get's near her vent area...but that's all the credit i am giving him.

So...my silkie girl JUST started laying on October 1st "got three egg's from her already" and the rooster im talking about is in a breeder pen with her...so i know that it's just the two of them when im not around. Can roosters actually have problems mating???? Or am i just overreacting and hes really doing a fine job with my silkie hen?? I just hope the eggs she has given me are fertile.

Also, i've been told 7...then ive been told 10...but just how many days can i store her eggs before i can throw them in the old bator? I was told the sooner the better...but i have eggs coming this Wednesday and i want to take the eggs i have from her now...and add them in with my shipped egg's. Still think her eggs will ave a good chance of developing with my shipped eggs?

 

[ella]

You can crack them open and look for the bulls eye on the yolk that would mean he's fertilizing them.

The bigger problem would be setting a pullet's first eggs. It's not a great idea, they're smaller and have a thicker shell then if she's been laying for a while. If you want healthier chicks, I would wait at least a month before setting eggs from her.

 

[k2chickens]

Quote:
thanks, but what about my rooster?? and on the egg's, how long can they keep before they are probly no longer worth throwing in the bator??

 

[BarkerChickens]

I am not sure regarding how long to hold the eggs, but the best way to tell if he is doing his job right, is to crack the egg and look for the bulls-eye. Since the first eggs are good to use anyway, you may as well use them to crack open and check for fertility.

 

[k2chickens]

i think im going to do the first one she layed. But when i see them mate, is what im seeing normal?? Or by what i described...is he not doing his job?

 

[Stephanie-n-Hayden]

I was wondering the same thing. When my hens first started laying, we happened to find three eggs on the floor in the corner of the coop. She wasn't sitting on them, so we took them into the house to see what they looked like inside. We cracked one open and it looked like a normal egg, but had a little black spot attached to the yolk, about the size of a pin head. So, I assumed that my 5 month old banty rooster had indeed fertilized them. We through the others out because we don't have an incubator yet, and she certainly was not broody. But every egg we have gotten since then has been without a balck dot. Does this mean that he is not fertilizing them, that the first was just a fluke?

 

[onthespot]

The only way to know if he is hitting the mark is to crack an egg or put it in the incubator and candle it after several days.

 

[crazychicken]

Here you Go ! This should make it a little easier

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=16008

 

[Opa]

As the others have stated look for the bulleye in the egg. Sex for poultry is extremely ackward appearing and quick. Also you might never see them breed. I had a lf rooster that I never witnessed him mating yet the eggs were fertile and we hatched several chicks.

 

[ella]

Stephanie, the black spot you saw was a meat spot. It doesn't have anything to do with if an egg is fertilized or not, it's just a bit of tissue from the hen that ended up in the egg.

The link will show you what a fetilized egg looks like.