I have 3 different breeds of chickens, barred rocks, orpingtons, and wyandottes, all in one pen. I want to be able to seperate the breeds and hatch pure bred chicks off the parents. How long after I seperate the different breeds should I not have to worry about mix bred chicks? I've heard one week, I've heard one month, I've heard 3 months.
First, I’ll answer one question you did not ask. It may help you with your planning. It takes about 25 hours for an egg to go through the hen’s internal egg factory. It can only be fertilized in the first few minutes of that journey. That means if a mating takes place on a Sunday, Sunday’s egg is not fertile. Monday’s egg might or might not be fertile, depending in when the mating took place and the egg started its journey. I would not count on it. Tuesday’s egg is almost certainly fertile. Remember that’s after a successful mating. Not all roosters mate with each hen I the flock every day. Which brings us to your question. After a mating the hen does what I call a fluffy shake. She fluffs up and shakes. That puts the sperm in a special container right where the egg starts its journey through her internal egg laying factory. Normally we count on the sperm staying viable for two weeks. It’s possible that sperm can stay viable for three weeks or even a tad more. If you want to be pretty sure, wait three weeks. If you want to be absolutely sure wait a few more days, but no more than 4 weeks. Since it involves chickens it can’t be this simple, and it’s not. There is always a catch. That container that holds the sperm operates on a last in – first out basis. The sperm from the last rooster that filled that container will come out first and fertilize the egg. I never give 100% absolute guarantees but I got that from one of the top chicken reproduction specialists in the country. I trust him. So if you want to be totally absolutely sure wait 3 to 4 weeks. If you trust that poultry reproduction specialist like I do, wait about three or four days after a mating.
