need advice not all my eggs are fertile

[cowchickfarmer]

I have this maran roo for 6 years now and this is my first time to hatch out of him I also have a bantam roo I would have thought that would have been enough roos for 45 hens . so I'm asking is my roo too old for fertile .

 

[enola]

45 hens is a lot of hens for 2 roosters. Some roosters are not as fertile after age 3 as he used to be. Another problem is roosters will spend all of their energy breeding their 5-6 favorite hens. My suggestion would be to pen the roosters with 8-10 hens per hen. I think that will help your fertility rates. Good luck!

 

[PirocaKeeper]

I don't think there is an age where a rooster is not fertile, but I think it also has to do with its diet. As they get older they also get more mellow and not as aggressive sexually as cockerels are. In my opinion if you are interested in breeding your rooster/hen ration needs to be a lot lower. I believe 1 rooster per 8-10 hens is what I have heard is the max. I have heard of breeders keeping a rooster per 3-4 hens, for breeding purposes. If your roosters are for general purposes (hen watch) and for occasional hatching, even though that's too many hens for them to cover, it may be ok. If you want to hatch out of the marans rooster, you may want to separate him with some of your/his favorite hens for a couple of weeks and collect eggs from that time. When you hatch your little ones, leave another one or 2 grown in your flock (best way of adding a rooster to an existing flock with roosters is to let them grow in it).

 

[cowchickfarmer]

Thank you that is what I have dicided on I love my handsome roos

 

[cowchickfarmer]

I plan on putting him with some welsummers bo and some leghorns my little bantam will be with some top hats bantam hens and some bo

 

[PirocaKeeper]

Just make sure your favorite hens are also his favorite hens. Some roosters will not mate much with hens they are not attracted to. I have around 30 (4 roosters) and they seem to all want to mate the same girls and some of the girls don't get too much attention. In my case is ok, I am not expecting to breed them all. So happens that one of my favorite hens is 2 years old and almost never got mated with, has never layed an egg either.

 

[cowchickfarmer]

This is another question what if I kept both my roos up in the coop with my 45 he s would I have a better hatch rate

 

[enola]

45 hens for two roosters is just asking for infertility. Roosters pick out a few favorite hens to mate. Unless you pen the roosters with a small flock of their own you will have low fertility.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

45 hens for two roosters is just asking for infertility. Roosters pick out a few favorite hens to mate. Unless you pen the roosters with a small flock of their own you will have low fertility.

Agreed - your fertility issue is related to your gender ratio.

 

[cowchickfarmer]

So if I kept my 45 hens locked up in the coop would my roos tread the hens that he doesn't tread as much or should I just buy another roo .