Possibility of fertile eggs

[kmpcfp]

I have a flock of 14 chickens, with two co-roosters. They are perfectly fine together but are giant you-know-whats to people. I only held on to them for spring eggs, but only one hen is laying right now. Generally the flock tends to start back up laying in mid-late February. If I dispatch the roosters now is there any chance to still have fertile eggs 6 weeks from now?

I just recently acquired 3 hens and a little bantam roo from someone who was unable to care for them any longer. That roo is super sweet and I want to keep him, but right now is in a crate in the coop to keep him safe from the roosters. Plus, I don't want to hatch his offspring, if he could even make it work with the full size hens.

Thoughts?

 

[nchls school]

I have a flock of 14 chickens, with two co-roosters. They are perfectly fine together but are giant you-know-whats to people. I only held on to them for spring eggs, but only one hen is laying right now. Generally the flock tends to start back up laying in mid-late February. If I dispatch the roosters now is there any chance to still have fertile eggs 6 weeks from now?

I just recently acquired 3 hens and a little bantam roo from someone who was unable to care for them any longer. That roo is super sweet and I want to keep him, but right now is in a crate in the coop to keep him safe from the roosters. Plus, I don't want to hatch his offspring, if he could even make it work with the full size hens.

Thoughts?

It would be highly unlikely for eggs to be fertile after six weeks. A bantam rooster can mate with larger hens.

If you want chicks from the large aggressive roosters, you'd have better luck hatching the eggs if you kept the roosters until you get the eggs for hatching.

If it were me I'd get rid of the aggressive roosters and buy hatching eggs.

 

[kmpcfp]

Yea, I figured that was the answer. I think I will try to hatch out the ones I do have from the lone laying hen in the next couple weeks and get chicks in the spring if I have a low hatch rate now. It's more economical to get already hatched layer chicks around here than trying to find eggs.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Good plan. In rare cases eggs can remain fertile longer than three weeks after the last mating but don't count on longer than two weeks. And yes, that bantam can fertilize the eggs. Hopefully another hen or two will start laying soon.

 

[gimmie birdies]

I had a great rooster who was not mean to me, I was just done. He was about 7 months old, and when my hens started to lay and be mated by him this fall I set his eggs. First set was 7/8 eggs. I was testing his fertility. Then while he was alive I got one set 11/11 eggs and then 15/19 eggs. Then 2 weeks after I put him down (thinking I was done, but then a new hen started to lay.) I put the last of what I thought was fertile, 2 weeks after he was gone and I got 5/13.