Two roosters

[Gercarson]

I have two roosters with my flock - I need to concentrate on breeding just ONE with two hens that have been mixed into the flock.
After the three have been penned together, how long will it take to assure that the correct rooster is the fertilizer of the eggs?
These are Silver Penciled Wyandottes and McMurray only carries them now as part of their rarest of the rare assortment (maybe) and are not included as separate anymore. I love them and want to breed my own.
I know this has been discussed time and again, but how does one search for this info?
Thanks for a response.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I took this from another of my posts. Your answer is hidden in here.

It takes about 25 hours for an egg to make it through the hen’s internal laying factory. That egg can only be fertilized in the first 15 minutes of that journey. So if a mating takes place on a Sunday, Sunday’s egg is certainly not fertile. Monday’s egg might be, depending on when it started its journey and when the mating took place. Tuesday’s egg is almost certainly fertile. If it is not, there is something else going on. Notice this is after a successful mating. A rooster does not necessarily mate with every hen in his flock every day.

You can sort of count on most hens remaining fertile for two weeks after a mating. They are living animals so this part cannot be as precise as the first part. Occasionally a hen may lose fertility after maybe nine days but you can usually count on two weeks. Sometimes a hen will remain fertile for just over three weeks so if you want to clean her up from one rooster so you know her eggs are fertile from the new rooster, you need to wait at least three weeks and four is even more sure.

 

[Gercarson]

Just as I thought - because I've probably read this same post before. Two weeks stuck in my mind though and had some hope for that time limit. So, to be "fer sure", I will wait four weeks before incubating any of the eggs from this trio.
I do thank you for this great reply and appreciate your kindness.

 

[melroseladi]

Dr Bramwell from the University of Arkansas did an incubation seminar (can be found online through Google search) in which he explained why you do not have to wait the 2 or 3 weeks to incubate eggs after changing roosters. Basically the sperm which is stored in tubes inside the hen, only has 20 minutes to fertilize the egg once the egg is released. The sperm is stored in the tubes getting stacked on top of each other, so last sperm in would be the first sperm out. As long at the new rooster is breeding the hen, his sperm will always be at the top of the tube and will be the sperm released.

Now if you removed that rooster, his sperm in the tube would get used up and then the sperm from the previous rooster would be released, but the older the sperm the less viable it is.

It is a really interesting seminar.

Penny

 

[Gercarson]

Thank you Penny - this IS interesting information.

 

[gimmie birdies]

I have had hens hold sperm up to 3 weeks.

 

[melroseladi]

Yes hens can hold the sperm for weeks BUT when new sperm is added to the sperm holding tube the old sperm is not released until the new sperm is gone. the sperm is stacked so the new sperm blocks the old sperm from releasing. Last in, first out. First in, last out.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Thanks for the post Penny. That’s the first time I’ve heard of that last in-first out from someone I’d trust. I’m generally pretty cynical about what I read on the internet.

Dr. Bramwell teaches just a few miles from where I live in one of the top three poultry science university departments in the country. He is a reliable source. I’ve been to one workshop he helped lead but it was on a totally different topic. It seems his seminars are always in distant parts of the state and usually at times I have other commitments. I appreciate you posting that. I did watch and noticed some things I was wrong about, such as fertilization takes place in the first 5 minutes, not 15. There were other things too. A fascinating video.

There is still the implied warning that the new rooster needs to keep breeding the hen. Thanks to your post I have another question for him when I finally get to see him in a seminar and it is appropriate to ask. How often does that mating need to take place to suppress the old rooster’s sperm?