rooster information

[carlf]

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Same here, new peeps were accepted from day one. No need to separate them. Momma hens know better than us how to take care of her peeps.

 

[Mrs. K]

When people ask about how to get the rooster just to breed certain hens, there is often two thinking behind that question, either how to get pure bred eggs, or how NOT to eat fertilized eggs.

If you have a mixed flock of different breeds, introduce the rooster of the breed you want, and only hatch the eggs out of the hens that match him. Usually you can tell which eggs come from which hen with a little practice and observation. If some are of close color and shape, take pictures and mark them. You can either put your chosen eggs under a broody hen or in an incubator.

If you are worried about eating fertilized eggs, don't be. Fertilized eggs are rather difficult to spot, and take some education and experience. Most people will not know if they are fertilized or not. Another point is, chicken eggs are not like mammal eggs in which the egg begins to develop upon fertilization. Chicken eggs are in limbo, a state of suspension, kind of like a seed, and will not begin to form into a life form until certain conditions are met. This allows a chicken to lay an egg a day for several days. The eggs just sit there doing nothing until the size of the clutch is right, and she stops laying eggs, and settles down on top of all the eggs and begins to brood them. If the eggs are kept at nearly 100 degrees for more than 24 hours, the embryos begin to develop. This allows the last egg laid, and the first egg laid to develop at the same rate, and hatch within minutes of each other, not days apart, where she would either leave the not finished eggs or let the live chicks leave the nest. They all hatch at the same time, and she starts taking care of the live chicks.

If you get your druthers, get a rooster as close to a year old as you can. Don't worry about it, and just see what happens.

Mrs K

 

[EggHead107]

thank you everyone for your help. is it okay to eat fertile eggs that the rooster will breed the hen with? and I need to get a baby rooster. so if i raise him how old does he need to be to be with my other hens!!! everyone is helping me out a lot!!!1 thank you i am getting good information.

 

[EggHead107]

i have 5 plymouth rock, production red, ameracaunas, australorp, black sex link, light brahmas!!!

 

[carlf]

Of course its ok to eat fertilized eggs, people have been doing it for thousands of years.

If you get a baby roo, he needs to be old enough to take care of himself, maybe 8-10 weeks old, before you try to mix him in.

 

[EggHead107]

okay!! now i am going to research which rooster i am going to get. i am actually planning on separating him and some of my hens together so that i will know which eggs to incubate. does that sounds okay? and do you have any recommendations of roosters? thank you very much for your help!!

 

[gonehencrazy]

okay!! now i am going to research which rooster i am going to get. i am actually planning on separating him and some of my hens together so that i will know which eggs to incubate. does that sounds okay? and do you have any recommendations of roosters? thank you very much for your help!!

Where are you located? I have two beautiful Ameraucana cockerels. One Wheaten and one Blue Wheaten. I may keep the Blue. Not sure yet as my Welsummer X cockerel is well behaved.

I'm in Pa if u want the Wheaten.

 

[bobbi-j]

okay!! now i am going to research which rooster i am going to get. i am actually planning on separating him and some of my hens together so that i will know which eggs to incubate. does that sounds okay? and do you have any recommendations of roosters? thank you very much for your help!!

What are your goals for your flock? What are your plans for the chicks you hatch? Do you want egg layer, meat producers, or just pretty chickens to look at and feed? What are you going to do with all the extra roosters you'll end up with? These are all questions you want to ask yourself before hatching out chicks.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Unless you have a PhD in poultry science it is better at first to stick to a pure bred or mostly pure bred flock. The reason is so that you can keep some semblance of what it was that you were looking for when you got your first hens.

Without knowing who laid which egg or what rooster treaded which hen, it will for evermore be imposable to recreate any lucky mistake in breeding or genetics that you make, so you will do better if you do not stray far from your chicken keeping roots, at least not for the first few years.

After you better understand the pros and cons of each breed from personal observation instead of the poor opinions of someone like myself, then you may want to let your imagination run wild and breed a rooster to a millipede and develop a chicken that will give you more drumsticks.

Raising backyard chickens should be fun and a mostly pure bred or pure bred flock will insulate you from some (but not all) of the headaches, heartaches, and disappointments that goes with keeping domestic animals. It will also give you a better understanding of what you are looking for in a chicken.

 

[Mrs. K]

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I humbly disagree with this, I have had both a pure flock and a mixed flock, and found that birds are birds, most will lay eggs, and you can tell birds apart if they don't all look the same. I have greatly enjoyed my mixed breed flocks. I find them as healthy as any other birds.

Mrs K