My 2 silkie girls are finally laying, yay! My problem is that i can't have roosters where i live so my 3 live out in the country. How long do the girls need to be with the boys for eggs to start being fertile? I would have to bring them out to the boys and leave them, which I'm not too happy about doing for very long since it took forever to get my grumpy old hen to accept them in the first place, If i took them out say tonight, and then left them for the day tomorrow and brought them back home friday, would their eggs start being fertile? On another note, should I put them in with all 3 boys or separate a boy out for them? All 3 get along together just great but I don't want to cause any fighting over girls...
Three males to two hens is a bad idea. Only one rooster. Their eggs *should* be fertile. That all depends on whether or not the rooster does the deed.
Is there any way you can sneak one back to your house for a little while. I had a silkie rooster and he wasnt that noisy. You can then keep him for a couple weeks and takr him back.
oh no, mine are SOOOO loud!!!! lol. I wish they could all be here but not until i move to the country where i an have as many as i want. i really can't wait for my buff laced polish to startlaying, then I'm gonna cross her with my black and white sizzle for the fun of it! thanks! I think I'll just section off my white silkie for now then sine I know he is very capable of doing his "job" since he's daddy to my sizzle, and then if that works i can always bring them back out to meet mr sizzle and my blue(??) roo as well.
Obviously you've never met my Silkie roo "Elvis" - he's almost as loud as my Orpington roos. Any-who, I agree, try and sneak a boy in there for a few days and he'll do his job and wah-la - fertile eggs. Oh hens don't always warm up to roosters and roosters don't care - it's pretty much - chase hen, slam hen to ground, love hen, get off and act all proud while she shakes herself off.
It takes about seven days for a hen to lay a fertile egg after its been fertilized. That means that if you left the hen with the rooster(s) for two to three days, you would have fertile eggs in about 7 days. I myself, would suggest about a week with the rooster (my opinion) to assure that the rooster is getting the job done.
