rooster mating

[shmeggs]

if a rooster fertilizes a hen how long will it be until the egg is fertilized? I have only had a rooster about a month and I don't think we have fertilized eggs yet. I have seen him breeding some of the hens so I know he is trying to do his part of the job.

 

[Judy]

I believe they should be fertile within two or three days. They should be now, if he is mature enough and actually has the procedure figured out; very young cockerels don't always succeed in fertilizing them. Have you checked for the bullseye?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/16008/how-to-tell-a-fertile-vs-infertile-egg-pictures/0_20

 

[ChickenCanoe]

After a mating, the sperm resides in the sperm host glands in the vagina. The next time an egg is laid it will squeeze some of the semen out of the sperm host glands and they will make their way up the isthmus, magnum and finally to the infundibulum. That could take an extra day or two. The next ovum released by the ovaries will spend about 15 minutes in the infundibulum. If there is viable sperm there it will fertilize. After the first mating it could take as long as a week or more based on that and how often a hen lays eggs.
If a hen isn't laying very often it could take longer.
Have you looked for the bullseye on the yolks?

 

[shmeggs]

I was told take egg in a really dark room with a really bright flashlight look for veins running around inside shell of egg. I have noticed looking in shell of egg sometimes there is a bullseye inside shell when I look in shell with bright light.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

There won't be veins unless incubation has started. That usually begins 3 or 4 days after the egg has been at about 100 degrees F.

 

[shmeggs]

can I see this bullseye from outside the shell

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I can barely see it on the yolk after I crack it open.
Go to the link Flockwatcher gave you. That will make it very clear.

 

[Judy]

can I see this bullseye from outside the shell

No. The only ways to tell if they are fertile is open them and find a bullseye, or see development upon candling after incubating a while.