Paternity question when 2 roos arein the flock

[babsbag]

Let's say I have 2 roos and 1 hen (I have more hens, but for the sake of this question I have one). If she goes broody and has eggs from the last 7 days under her, will they all have the same father? If she is bred by both roos, which it looks like she has been, will the eggs be a mixed up bunch? How exactlly does this work with a chicken?

 

[kid-n-chickens]

I would think that if she has been breed by both that it will be a mixture of both roosters as the dad since the semen lives for up to 4 weeks! Hopefully someone else can help! BUMP!!

 

[babsbag]

I just hatched out a bunch of mutt bantams and I am trying to figure out what they will look like. My hens are New Hampshire, Silver laced Wyandotte, EE, and Blue Laced Red Cornish. My roos are Gold Laced Wyandotte, and New Hampshire. I had at least 2 eggs from each hen that hatched and I sure have a mixed up bunch of little babies. I can tell the EE because they have muffs, but the feathering is all different so I am thinking that they have different dads, even from the same hen. But I wan't sure that is possible if the eggs are collected within days of each other. I just don't know how this chicken stuff works.

I wish I understood more about sex linked as well. The kids in our 7-8 grade science class were just studying genetics. This would be a good object lesson.

 

[eraycollins]

If memory serves me correctly, out of the chicks the females will get their physical characteristics from the rooster and the males from their mama. HOWEVER this doesn't seem to apply to my chickens. We had a white silkie hen that was bred by God only knows which rooster in our flock. Unfortunately something ate her and all but one of the babies. The sole survivor turned out to be a rooster. Going by my previous statement, this bird should have been white with silkie feathers. Instead, he has Barred Rock markings, normal feathers [maybe a little "fluffier" than normal, but not exceptionally so], and a funny looking patch of feathers on top of his head that I can't justify calling a topknot or a crest. I think the bottom line is that when that egg hatches, what comes out will be what God has decided. That's why I love my mixed, free range chickens. Every clutch that hatches is like Christmas and every egg a present.