Mating/Pairing question

[Maiahr]

I have a flock with hens and roosters. I would like to pair one of my hens with a friend's pure breed rooster. My question is: Do I just take my hen, take it to my friend's pure breed rooster and have them mate, then collect the eggs, OR I need to firstly isolate my hen so it "cleans" from my rooster's sperm and then take it to the pure breed rooster?

 

[NNYchick]

This is not a good idea, BIOSECURITY. Chickens can be carriers of disease and show no symptoms, meaning her flock could have diseases they are resistant to and the chickens are healthy but your chickens are not resistant so when exposed to a member of her flock your will get sick or vis versa.
Anytime you add a new chicken it is best to do quarantine. There are articles available telling you how to do it.

 

[sourland]

Sperm can remain viable in a hens reproductive tract for up to 3 weeks post mating. Understand that moving birds back and forth between flocks increases the possibility of disease exposure.

 

[NNYchick]

Here is a good article. You are better off finding your own rooster quarantine then you can breed. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...nderestimated-part-of-raising-chickens.67097/

 

[starri33]

You would need to keep your hen separate from your roo's for a while to make sure that she's not likely to lay eggs from your flock, as for how to achieve the mating without causing problems for both flocks I am not sure how you'd go about that. Maybe see if she'd be willing to keep your hen for at least 30 days in quarantine. Then mate and bring your girl back and do the same till your sure she's fine. Keeping her separate might actually be a good thing as you'd know that your Roo's can't get to her.

 

[NatJ]

I have a flock with hens and roosters. I would like to pair one of my hens with a friend's pure breed rooster. My question is: Do I just take my hen, take it to my friend's pure breed rooster and have them mate, then collect the eggs, OR I need to firstly isolate my hen so it "cleans" from my rooster's sperm and then take it to the pure breed rooster?

You should plan on isolating your hen for about 3 weeks, if you want to be sure your own rooster is not the father of the chicks.

I agree with the other posters' concerns about diseases, but I also think that just having the birds together for a few minutes to mate would be less likely to spread diseases than introducing one bird into the other flock long-term. (Maybe have the mating happen outside of the usual chicken quarters, and pick up/throw away any droppings from the bird that is visiting, to further reduce the risk.)

You didn't ask, but regarding how often the hen needs to mate in order to keep producing fertile eggs: articles on artificial insemination recommend once or twice a week, so I'm guessing natural mating once or twice a week would probably also work.

Of course, artificial insemination could be an option to reduce diseases, but it sounds a lot more bothersome than just putting the birds together and letting them take care of the details!

 

[Maiahr]

Thank you very much! All useful advices! My plan was to take my hen, isolate her with my friend's pure breed rooster for 1/2 hour or as long as he does the job and then take my hen back home. Following your advice I will keep her separate for a while after mating anyway in order to collect the eggs.

 

[allosaurusrock]

I would say both birds should be quarantined afterwords, but it could work. I’d leave them together for a few days to guarantee a catch though.