hen that does not breed.

[DeWayne Edgin]

I have a hen that is with two pullets and a rooster in the same pen. I can hatch chicks from the pullets eggs and i used the rooster last year on other hens. The hen in question has been laying eggs for awhile now but no eggs ever develope. The pullets eggs are though. Last fall i used a different rooster on her and had the same problem. My rooster is breeding her and she just will not give me a fertile egg. She is a real nice two year old hen and i really want chicks from her. Any ideas? Thanks

[Sharon Yorks]

Have you checked around her vent area to see if there are a lot of feathers that might be getting in the way? You may want to trim that area and see if that helps.

[John]

There is another current topic here on artificial insemination.  This may be the hen to experiment on.

[DeWayne Edgin]

I will pull some more feathers out around her vent today. I have a friend that is a member of the club that has done artificial insemination on his birds, and maybe i can call him to get the full details on how to do it. I am going to try removing more feathers first though, but it looks fairly open back there already. Thanks for the help John and Sharon.

[DeWayne Edgin]

I just checked the vent on my hen and i found there was hard poop on some feathers around the hole. I put rubber gloves on and pulled it all out around the hole and now she has a bald spot. I hope this works because i really want to get chicks from this hen. But now i have two hens that want to eat their eggs as soon as they lay them! They are in the breeding pens with other hens but the other hens are not eating their eggs. All of my hens are on the same feed and it is 20% protein. Any ideas how to get them to stop eating eggs? I grab the eggs when i am home and i see they are laying, but when i come home from work i always find egg on their face!

[John]

Any ideas how to get them to stop eating eggs?

I use ceramic eggs to help break them of the habit.  I bought 30 dozen greenish ones, wholesale, from the manufacturer and will sell them for $8/dozen plus shipping.

[DeWayne Edgin]

John can you send me an email with the shipping cost and a paypal link please?  Sometimes emails do not get to me or go out from me, so i will let you know when i get it. Thanks again.

[Mike Gilbert]

John, could you save me a dozen and bring it along to our show in June?

[John]

DeWayne,
I sent an email to you.  It looks like $6 for a flat rate box is the cheapest shipping and I think I could get 2 dozen in a box for the same shipping cost. UPDATE: They don't fit in the small flat rate box, so postage varies.  Please email me with your Zip Code for a shipping quote.  The shipping is more than the price of the eggs for some.

Mike,
Sure, but please remind be closer to the show.

[DeWayne Edgin]

Thanks John. One question i have though. Will letting these eggs in my breeding pens cause hens to go broody on me? 

[John]

Will letting these eggs in my breeding pens cause hens to go broody on me?

I've never heard of any studies on that.  From experience I know that when a hen goes broody she stays that way whether she has an egg(s) under her or not.

[DeWayne Edgin]

John i don't think my email is working again but i sent you money. Thanks

[John]

i sent you money

I received it late yesterday and sent an email reply around 8pm.

[DeWayne Edgin]

Thanks John. I guess i need to get a new email account.

[DeWayne Edgin]

Well the ceramic eggs are not working.  The hens started pecking them right away! As soon as they drop their egg, they turn around and eat them as fast as they can. I grabed two right from their butts today but the 3rd hen beat me by two seconds and destroyed her egg!!  Thanks for trying to help me though.