Questions about penning rooster with hen for pure breed eggs.

[grasjm36]

I have a beautiful avery connected to my chicken coop that we decided would be perfect for breeding our hens. My fiance is putting up walls to create numerous pens within the avery.

My question is...how long do I keep the rooster and hen together before i can expect pure breed eggs? I have an assortment of roosters and hens that free range but I would like to take my best barred rock and mate her to the best barred rock rooster and so on, and then hatch those eggs under a broody. Any other suggestions about mating??

Thanks!!

 

[Debbi]

Sounds like a nice set up, and a helpful fiance to boot! The first thing you need to do is seperate the hens from ALL roos. Hens can hang onto sperm for a month; so to make sure you have a "clean" bunch of hens, they need no contact with any roo. Once you can crack an egg open and see it is not fertile, then you can put the desired roos in with their chosen mates. If you put them in too soon, you can get a hatch with 2, or more, daddies in the mix....ask me how I know!

I was first told that 2 weeks was sufficient to clean out the hens, not true. Keep them seperate for at least 4 weeks, then you will know for sure who the baby daddy is. Good luck, have fun, and hang on to that guy of yours!!

 

[brahmabreeder]

It takes two weeks on average for the eggs to not be fertile if they are without a roo. So I would guess in three weeks from getting your roo and hen together in their own pen you would have your pure bred chicken eggs.

 

[Debbi]

It takes two weeks on average for the eggs to not be fertile if they are without a roo. So I would guess in three weeks from getting your roo and hen together in their own pen you would have your pure bred chicken eggs.

Yeah, that's the line I fell for when I first got on here too! Believe me when I say...hens will hang onto the sperm of a favorite roo for a month or better! Give them a rest of all roos for at least FOUR WEEKS!

 

[lucky123]

Yep, one month to be safe. I still got crosses after three weeks.