Want my hen to reproduce

norbert

In the Brooder
7 Years
May 18, 2012
12
0
22
I really want my hen, Chicken Little to reproduce. If I borrow a rooster, how do I make sure that they mate? I have other hens so how will I know if there is a chick inside the egg or not? Is it possible for Chicken Little to hatch the egg herself? And how will I made sure that the rooster doesn't mate with the other hens?
 
There's nothing you can do to make sure they mate, though they probably will. You will not know if the egg was fertilized unless you incubate it. The hen will not incubate the egg unless she goes broody. The only way you can be sure the rooster doesn't mate other hens is a fence, but I can't imagine why this matters. It doesn't matter whether it's fertile when you eat an egg, and a chick won't develop unless the egg is incubated, either in an incubator or under a broody, at about 100 degrees.

There is a way to tell whether a specific egg is fertile, but you have to open it, so of course you can't incubate it then:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/16008/how-to-tell-a-fertile-vs-infertile-egg-pictures
 
I really want my hen, Chicken Little to reproduce. If I borrow a rooster, how do I make sure that they mate? I have other hens so how will I know if there is a chick inside the egg or not? Is it possible for Chicken Little to hatch the egg herself? And how will I made sure that the rooster doesn't mate with the other hens?
if you want to make sure its her babies i would put her and the roo in a pen together, you cant force her to hatch her own eggs but i would wait untill she goes broody to get the rooster (if you want to try and let her hatch them). id keep them together for at least two or three weeks. after that she can carry his sperm for up to 3 months. so i would let her have at least a week of being with him before you let either her or the incubator hatch them. but in case it doesnt work the first time round i would save some of her other eggs(incubate them too) and just use a pencil to date them so you know whats supposed to hatch when so that if the first set isnt fertile you still have a chance without keeping the rooster for a long time. you can tell if the egg is fertile about three or four days in when you candle it you will see vains starting to form. just remember, if you end up with a high hatch rate and dont want all of them, you can always sell some. this also means you can make sure you only have whatever sex you want and can make money off the others. good luck with your chickies, hope this helps!
 
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Sounds like a lot could go wrong if you 'rent' a rooster! Your chickens will not like a newcomer and there will be lots of fighting and pecking. Also the rooster might bring in a serious disease to your birds. If you put him with just you one hen, then he will hurt her by mating with her too much.

Also, even if he does mate with her, she probably will not incubate the eggs. A hen has to be broody to do that, and there is no way to make her broody.

Why don't you just buy some more chicks? Or better yet, wait till she goes broody and get some fertile eggs to put under her.
 
I think you are better off finding someone that has a flock of the breed that you like and buying fertile eggs to incubate. If you can own a rooster maybe get one to put with your whole flock and then wait and incubate eggs from your hens next year after they've had time to establish pecking order and accept the rooster.
 

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