Ameraucana Breeders Club
The Official Forum of the Ameraucana Breeders Club => Breeding => Topic started by: DeWayne Edgin on April 12, 2014, 08:54:43 PM
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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
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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.
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There is another current topic here on artificial insemination. This may be the hen to experiment on.
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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.
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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!
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Any ideas how to get them to stop eating eggs?
I use ceramic eggs (http://ceramiceggs.com/)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.
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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.
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John, could you save me a dozen and bring it along to our show in June?
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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.
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Thanks John. One question i have though. Will letting these eggs in my breeding pens cause hens to go broody on me? :o
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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.
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John i don't think my email is working again but i sent you money. Thanks
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i sent you money
I received it late yesterday and sent an email reply around 8pm.
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Thanks John. I guess i need to get a new email account.
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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.
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Also try cutting back the beaks, with toenail clippers, on the egg eaters. Jerry Segler has mentioned it before also. If it hurts pecking on the ceramic eggs and they can't break them open they may give up.
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Hens and Roosters can become bored easily and start egg eating. Its a hard habit to break. You can try the dish soap filled egg, move them to another pen or do anything that might change the environment. Change the nest to a blind nest or trap nest might help. But most of all make sure they don't want for anything. Make sure they have oyster shell and granite grit. Give them plenty of green stuff, cabbage, free range or anything to occupy their time. I seem to do better with crumbles rather than pellets. It takes a little longer for them to eat with crumbles. They waste more if your not careful. Good Luck!
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Don i give them crumbles and they do not use the egg box to lay in. They lay anywere in the pen they want exept for the egg box! I put the fake eggs were they lay and they will move away from them to lay! I do not like moving them because they will quit laying for awhile. I will try triming their beaks and then if that does not work, move them to a different pen. Thanks
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Don i give them crumbles and they do not use the egg box to lay in. They lay anywere in the pen they want exept for the egg box! I put the fake eggs were they lay and they will move away from them to lay! I do not like moving them because they will quit laying for awhile. I will try triming their beaks and then if that does not work, move them to a different pen. Thanks
Dwayne you might try pinless peepers.
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Well my hen died. Her uterus broke and i lost her. I moved my other hens and i have been getting eggs from them. One of my blue wheaten hens went broody on my ceramic eggs also, so i moved her to.
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I'm sorry to hear you lost your hen. :(
I seem to be experiencing the same thing with one of mine. I've been trying to get offspring from her since spring began...I've used three different cocks over her so far and not a single fertile egg yet. It's very disheartening because she has this certain youthful pullet look that I'd love to replicate, and lays a large sized sky blue egg. Her vent looks good too, not overly fluffy or any pokey feathers. I'm kind of stumped. :-\
And going to be massively disappointed if she turns out to be a dud. :'(
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I've used three different cocks over her so far and not a single fertile egg yet.
I had one like that this season too. It was a different breed, but she was the best layer of the largest eggs. I first blamed the cock and even kept the pair together for several weeks before trying another...still not one fertile egg from her over the 12+ week hatching season.
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I am thinking my hen died because of her uterus. I was told it broke inside her. So i am thinking there was something wrong with it and sperm may not have been able to make it to the egg. I did notice when she sat down to lay an egg, it would take her hours and she couldnt sit still. I think it may have been hurting her to lay eggs.
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Prolapse is something I've been lucky not to have experienced (knock on wood). It sounds awful for all involved.
John, my hen happens to be one of my best layers too. She began at 19 wks in the dead of winter with no additional lighting...definitely a trait I wanted more of...but if males can be infertile, I guess it stands to reason females can be as well. What a bummer.
On the bright side, at least I'll have lots of good breakfasts! heh