I have a 4 y/o hen who I really want to hatch an egg from but, she hates roosters.
I never saw my first rooster mate her. She would fight him off every time. I never saw fertility in her yolks, but still threw a few of her eggs in when I hatched just in case. They never developed. We got rid of the first roo due to human aggression, and his son grew up in the flock. She remained very dominant, but eventually he started trying to mate with her and she would fight him off. I saw him attempt to mate her a few times, but mostly she fought with him, and the time I saw him actually pin her, he still didn't look too successful.
Then she got injured and had to be seperated from the flock for a few months. When I tried to reintegrate her, she was terrified of the rooster. She hid from him constantly and wouldn't come out to eat or drink.
So then I moved her to a small flock with a young cockerel and his pullets. They all did fine for a while until the cockerel hit puberty. She is still pretty dominant, but I have seen this cockerel mate with her over the last week (and it looks legit). She will run from him, but if he catches up to her, she does not fight him like she did the previous roos. So now I want to again try to incubate her eggs. The big question is... is it worth it?
If it was prime chick season, I would have no problem just tossing a bunch of eggs in the incubator. But I wasn't seriously planning to hatch again until fall. So I run the risk of hatching a bunch of chicks I don't really need right now. Or, I just put a small number of eggs in the incubator, and run the risk of only having 1 or 2 hatch. The chicks will all be barnyard mixes. Straight-run BYM chicks aren't selling great right now, so I'd probably have to grow them out until they're sexable and I'd have to cull any cockerels I wind up.
Here are the primary considerations:
- She's a little over 4 years old. Is that "too old" in terms of her likelihood to be able to produce fertile eggs?
- My cockerel is 19 weeks old, so his fertility is probably still low, right? And his aim could be off. He's a Black Copper Marans if that matters.
- This hen hates roosters. However, she squats for me. Does that indicate that she sees me as her rooster, and could be rejecting his sperm? (Is this something you can actually SEE a hen do?)
- I want chicks from her for personal reasons. She's special to me. This isn't about breeding for anything specific (although prior to her injury she was my top egg layer even as one of my oldest hens). She's a silver-laced wyandotte if that matters.
- Since her injury, her egg laying has been inconsistent. I'd prefer to wait to fire up the bator until I have at least 3 (preferably more) of her eggs, which could take up to 2 weeks. Some of her eggs are perfect, and sometimes she lays eggs that are very long, narrow, and "tubular" so I don't know if they'd be able to develop properly.
Should I go for it? Should I wait and give it time? What would you do?
I never saw my first rooster mate her. She would fight him off every time. I never saw fertility in her yolks, but still threw a few of her eggs in when I hatched just in case. They never developed. We got rid of the first roo due to human aggression, and his son grew up in the flock. She remained very dominant, but eventually he started trying to mate with her and she would fight him off. I saw him attempt to mate her a few times, but mostly she fought with him, and the time I saw him actually pin her, he still didn't look too successful.
Then she got injured and had to be seperated from the flock for a few months. When I tried to reintegrate her, she was terrified of the rooster. She hid from him constantly and wouldn't come out to eat or drink.
So then I moved her to a small flock with a young cockerel and his pullets. They all did fine for a while until the cockerel hit puberty. She is still pretty dominant, but I have seen this cockerel mate with her over the last week (and it looks legit). She will run from him, but if he catches up to her, she does not fight him like she did the previous roos. So now I want to again try to incubate her eggs. The big question is... is it worth it?
If it was prime chick season, I would have no problem just tossing a bunch of eggs in the incubator. But I wasn't seriously planning to hatch again until fall. So I run the risk of hatching a bunch of chicks I don't really need right now. Or, I just put a small number of eggs in the incubator, and run the risk of only having 1 or 2 hatch. The chicks will all be barnyard mixes. Straight-run BYM chicks aren't selling great right now, so I'd probably have to grow them out until they're sexable and I'd have to cull any cockerels I wind up.
Here are the primary considerations:
- She's a little over 4 years old. Is that "too old" in terms of her likelihood to be able to produce fertile eggs?
- My cockerel is 19 weeks old, so his fertility is probably still low, right? And his aim could be off. He's a Black Copper Marans if that matters.
- This hen hates roosters. However, she squats for me. Does that indicate that she sees me as her rooster, and could be rejecting his sperm? (Is this something you can actually SEE a hen do?)
- I want chicks from her for personal reasons. She's special to me. This isn't about breeding for anything specific (although prior to her injury she was my top egg layer even as one of my oldest hens). She's a silver-laced wyandotte if that matters.
- Since her injury, her egg laying has been inconsistent. I'd prefer to wait to fire up the bator until I have at least 3 (preferably more) of her eggs, which could take up to 2 weeks. Some of her eggs are perfect, and sometimes she lays eggs that are very long, narrow, and "tubular" so I don't know if they'd be able to develop properly.
Should I go for it? Should I wait and give it time? What would you do?
