I was wondering about the hens holding the sperm in for later use.. I thought it was a month long personally... so technically the roo might be shooting blanks NOW but the hens might be fertile still because he didnt shoot blanks two weeks ago? ugh all I want is a couple fertile eggs to hatch for new years.. my other half keeps telling me to blow in the chickens beak to get an egg faster lolOh Omak Dave, there is another issue to consider also:
hens can store viable sperm for up to 2 weeks.
It is thought that this ensures she be able to lay a clutch of eggs (and hatch them) if the cock bird was killed, as they often are, by predators.
A flock left without a male, would still lay fertile eggs for up to 2 weeks, ensuring the hens hatch more males (and females) to carry on.
So even if it got really cold, (freezing or below) the cock would go sterile, yet the hens still lay fertile eggs for up to 2 weeks.
Cool, huh ?
Mother Nature is amazing !
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