Rooster question

[Peter.J]

Hi Mrs K, thanks for the points. Our last rooster was pretty mean so my wife's criteria for a new one was a good demeanor with people and the Bielfelder seems to fit the bill for that so I'm just going to have to see how he does.
I'm hoping maybe I'll be able to see which hens he 'favors' and fertilizes more effectively and then try to put those eggs under a broody hen. Not sure if you can 'candle' a fresh egg and see the fertilization 'dot'?

As for the milk crates, i'm starting to realize after the fact that there are some negative reviews out there for them; i have read a few people that were happy with them, so i'll at least give them a shot for a little bit. If i have to make new ones out of wood no big deal... In the mean time i may actually just add a couple more boxes below the roosts and board up some of the higher ones until my pullets/hens get into a routine.
I don't anticipate having fertile eggs or broody hens until springtime at the earliest so luckily i have some time to tweak things.

 

[Mrs. K]

No you cannot candle eggs for fertility, but what you can do is keep a record of your cooking eggs. Every time you open an egg, check it for fertility. If most of your eggs are fertilized, then you can set your eggs with some confidence. Not every fertilized egg will hatch, not every chick hatched will live. I found that a lot of his fertilized eggs did not hatch. Might have been my rooster, but it was a complaint on the board.

Several years ago, there was a thread, whereas, people entered the number of eggs they set, either broody or incubator, and then the number of live chicks they got. Over time, a very large number of eggs was recorded, (making this statistically relevant) and it seemed to show, that 50% was an average. Of course, people get better and worse hatch rates than that, the truth of any average. However, I always plan on a 50%, and if I do better than that, I am pleased, but not terribly disappointed if it is a bit worse.

Mrs K

 

[Peter.J]

That's a good idea with the cooking eggs. I have 5 different breeds of hens in there so keeping track of who's eggs are whos shouldn't be too difficult. 50% is workable for me. I'm just hoping to take advantage of the occasional broody chicken and hopefully get a few new 'free' chickens every so often. I used to live in the city limits where we couldn't have roosters so roosters and fertile eggs are a whole new thing to me.
I used to keep ~8 hens in a backyard coop without any issues. Now we've built a large coop/run with plans for a flock of 20, maybe more down the road...
I was really hoping to co-habitate 2 roosters in there with the 20 hens (which would eliminate fertility issues), but a lot of what i'm reading here is saying that is just not a great idea...

 

[Mrs. K]

That is what I do to, it is a hobby for me that gets me eggs and occasionally a chicken dinner.

Two roosters can, might, maybe, sort of, for a while, not at all work. One never knows, in my experience, the best is a father/son where the son is raised in the flock with the father and other chickens. Sometimes two "brothers" raised together can work, sometimes they will get along fine, sometimes out of the blue there will be one hell of a fight. Sometimes it happens once, sometimes it is on going.

Introducing strange roosters to each other is often times called cock fighting for a reason.
Roosters do not generally get the concept of sharing.

However, if you get a broody, and you are worried about fertility, ask around and get either day old chicks or someone else fertilized eggs. Easy way to add a bit of diversity in the flock. Out of those you will get some roosters that you can raise up in the flock, for a two rooster flock.

Mrs K

 

[Peter.J]

So you can put some live chics under a broody hen and she'll do the rest possibly? Good idea, or the fertile eggs too, if mine aren't as fertile as hoped... That sounds like a good plan, just wait for some 'sons' and pick one to finish up with his Dad.

 

[Mrs. K]

It works best if the hen has been broody for at least a couple of weeks and if the chicks are newly hatched and a little cold. In the dark, a couple of hours past sundown, in as little light as possible put madly peeping chicks under the broody hen. They will burrow in and she might even give them a peck to get them under her. THEN the HARD PART - leave them alone for the rest of the night.

 

[Peter.J]

Interesting, makes sense though. I'll keep that idea in the rolodex, if my eggs aren't fertile. Thanks

 

[BantyChooks]

No you cannot candle eggs for fertility, but what you can do is keep a record of your cooking eggs. Every time you open an egg, check it for fertility. If most of your eggs are fertilized, then you can set your eggs with some confidence. Not every fertilized egg will hatch, not every chick hatched will live. I found that a lot of his fertilized eggs did not hatch. Might have been my rooster, but it was a complaint on the board.

Several years ago, there was a thread, whereas, people entered the number of eggs they set, either broody or incubator, and then the number of live chicks they got. Over time, a very large number of eggs was recorded, (making this statistically relevant) and it seemed to show, that 50% was an average. Of course, people get better and worse hatch rates than that, the truth of any average. However, I always plan on a 50%, and if I do better than that, I am pleased, but not terribly disappointed if it is a bit worse.

Mrs K