The Official Forum of the Ameraucana Breeders Club > Breeding

3 Rookie Questions

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Tailfeathers:
I agree with Jerry and John.  Most sites I\'ve read say a hen should be clean after two weeks but I have read three on some sites.

Since I want to be absolutely sure and not have ANY chance at a mistake, I pull the rooster as soon as I\'ve got all the eggs I want from him.  Then I collect for another week, then I collect for cooking/selling for 4-5 days, and then I\'ll start cracking them open and if I get eggs that are infertile for 3 days in a row, I set the new rooster on them.  Then I wait three days and check for fertility.  As soon as I find my first fertile egg, I start collecting again.

I have a big Rubbermaid watertank that I use as a brooder in the house and I fill it with shavings.  I get a lot of dust to be sure but I just vacuum everything down when it gets to be too much.  Although the wife has been giving me nods that I think she wants me to find someplace else for them.   :p

God Bless,

Sharon Yorks:
PAPER BEDDING - What a great idea! I will surely try the furnace filters around their pen. I normally put pine shavings down first, topped with a double layer of Bounty paper towels right after the chicks are first hatched. Paper towels are so easy to change out. After a week or two (depending on the number of chicks), I leave the paper towels off and go straight to shavings. I just wondered if shredded paper would be okay. It would definitely be cheaper.  

ROOSTER CHANGE – I have 2 really nice black hens that I would like to have a lot of chicks out of, but would like to use multiple cockerels to experiment with. I just wanted to make sure I knew which chicks would be out of which cockerels. My best cockerel is a splash, so I know they will all be blue, but I really want some blacks, so I wanted to try them with a blue cockerel, too. I just wanted to make sure I knew which cockerel the blue chicks were out of in of the second batch.

Thanks for all of the great advice. It was very helpful.

Sharon

Paul:
#1.  You need 3 weeks to be sure the chicks are out of the new cockerel.  APA President, Sam Brush, has a story to share about only waiting two weeks.

#2.  The splash X blue may produce blues that are too light.

#3.  We use a fine grass hay-Bermuda grass.

grisaboy:
Swapping Roosters;
2 to 3 weeks is the \'rule of thumb\' but some breeds (nankins) are notorious for staying fertile longer.  Some individual hens may also stay fertile longer.
If you absolutely must be sure you should use the incubator test.
separate the hens from all males.  after one week save all the eggs and set in incubator.
after 7 days set another set of eggs and in the incubator.  Break open all the eggs set 7 days prior.  If they are fertile they will have started developing. Keep doing this each week until all of the eggs are clear. Once all of the eggs are clear, you can put the new rooster with the hens and be 100% confident that all subsequent offspring are his.
Curtis

Tailfeathers:
Setting them in the incubator is certainly one way of ensuring that you get clear eggs but unless you\'re going to feed those eggs back to your birds (which I do) the egg is wasted.

I prefer to just crack it open, check it for fertility, and then eat it myself.

God Bless,

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