Thinking of hiring a rooster to impregnate a chicken

[seattleattic]

Hi, we have five chickens and would like more. We can have three to four more chickens. I thought it would be a neat project to get one or two of our chickens pregnant but I'm not sure how to go about doing that.

However, I have some questions:

1. Is it possible to "hire" a rooster? In rural Latin America, when you want to get a cow pregnant, you pay to have a bull come and impregnate the cow.

2. If a chicken is pregnant (I don't even know if that's the right word for chickens), does that mean that the next egg she lays after the rooster is a fertile egg? Or on to question 3...

3. How many fertilized eggs will she lay after being with the rooster?

4. And finally, is it guaranteed that any egg she lays will be fertilized?

We may not be able to do this anyway, since there is always the possibility that an egg will hatch a rooster. Roosters aren't allowed in Seattle. But I thought I would at least gather information so I know how this all works and then make a decision.

Thanks!

 

[speckledhen]

Hi, we have five chickens and would like more. We can have three to four more chickens. I thought it would be a neat project to get one or two of our chickens pregnant but I'm not sure how to go about doing that.

However, I have some questions:

1. Is it possible to "hire" a rooster? In rural Latin America, when you want to get a cow pregnant, you pay to have a bull come and impregnate the cow.

2. If a chicken is pregnant (I don't even know if that's the right word for chickens), does that mean that the next egg she lays after the rooster is a fertile egg? Or on to question 3...

3. How many fertilized eggs will she lay after being with the rooster?

4. And finally, is it guaranteed that any egg she lays will be fertilized?

We may not be able to do this anyway, since there is always the possibility that an egg will hatch a rooster. Roosters aren't allowed in Seattle. But I thought I would at least gather information so I know how this all works and then make a decision.

Thanks!

You do NOT want to do that. First of all, a hen won't automatically submit to any old rooster. In fact, she may attack and injure him, or he may infect her with some disease. Chickens can be carriers of disease even if they appear healthy. It's a disease nightmare to do that.

You can get fertile eggs within 24-48 hours after a successful mating and that hen will remain fertile for another two weeks or so, on occasion a week longer than that, but you can count on two weeks most of the time.

No, it's not guaranteed that every egg she lays after a mating will be fertile; sometimes, an egg is missed on the "fertility conveyor belt".


And, "impregnate" is not the correct term, but of course, I know what you meant.

If you want to hatch eggs, you'd be better off just buying fertilized eggs from a seller on BYC or locally.

 

[SkippyRoo]

Hi there Seattleattic,


I guess that you can't have roosters there in Seattle eh? You could give it a go. There are usually some free roosters around on Craigslist. He could do his job and then you could cook him up or pass him along again. you ought to be able to get enough fertile eggs out of your ladies.

Yeah, i guess disease is always a potential problem Speckledhen when introducing and adult bird to your flock. I actually haven't devised a biosecurity plan and am wondering is this is a big no no. Around here when you need a rooster they are easy to be had and you just let them integrate. of course if it is too aggressive with the hens it goes in the pot!

Well goodluck in expanding your flock!

Scott

 

[dbdowst]

We are wanting to expand our flock of 7 red stars to about 12-13 total. We do not have a rooster and are not allowed to have one. If we get fertilized eggs will one of hens automatically incubate, hatch and care for them or does one have to be broody first?
Anyway advice on how to add to our flock with the least amount of conflict would be appreciated.

 

[SD Bird Lady]

If you have a broody hen you can place fertile eggs under her or let her set unfertile eggs and try to get her to adopt day old chicks from a neighbor hatchery or feedstore.

If no broody you can get started pullets and integrate them. That way you dont get a roo accidently and you dont have to wait for eggs.

Lastly, if you want baby chicks then I would start with chicks and raise them sepratly and then integrate them once they are older.

 

[dbdowst]

If you do not mind could you tell me how we would integrate pullets? I think that is the best route for us. We will have a second chicken house that will share a large run. Our hens roam throughout our large yard everyday and are only locked up at night when we put them to bed. So they are not enclosed in a small area during the day.How does one integrate pullets into an existing flock. My hens are just over a years old. Thank you!