Breeding questions?

AussieHens96 · Mar 20, 2014

Last year, around December, 15 weeks ago, we purchased four light sussex day olds, one of which was a cross breed (x arancuana). One of the light sussex (pure) we’re fairly sure is a rooster. It’s fairly obvious.
Since three of them are related, if not by the hens (since there were several breeding hens at the time) then definitely by the single rooster the breeder had, would there be cross-breeding problems?
What is sexual maturity for this rooster?
How do you tell if eggs are fertile? How soon after being laid can you tell?
Is eight hens enough for one rooster?
Is crowing necessary for breeding? Because he’s a dam mute one…

Oh, if you have any pictures on the difference between fertile or non-fertile eggs…That’d be awesome

chooks4life · Mar 20, 2014

AussieHens96 said:
Last year, around December, 15 weeks ago, we purchased four light sussex day olds, one of which was a cross breed (x arancuana). One of the light sussex (pure) we’re fairly sure is a rooster. It’s fairly obvious.
Since three of them are related, if not by the hens (since there were several breeding hens at the time) then definitely by the single rooster the breeder had, would there be cross-breeding problems?
Depends on how inbred those hens and rooster already were. Also depends on their genetics even if they're not inbred with one another. Their separate families could be severely inbred all on their own, lol. Always good to know what you're buying.

What is sexual maturity for this rooster?
You'll know, he'll start mating. In general there isn't any hard and fast fine-tuned rule about when any breed or strain of chicken becomes fertile, just generalizations, and all these characteristics are of course able to be altered by diet, environment, etc. If he's been sick often, or even once in a severe manner, he may not be fertile until he's long past the age most males are fertile.

How do you tell if eggs are fertile? How soon after being laid can you tell?
Eggs develop at different rates. Some you can tell over a 24 hour period, some take 3 days to a week, but of course I'm talking about using a normal torch, not a proper candling setup, to check on development. The better your setup the more you can see. I just use a hand torch.

Is eight hens enough for one rooster?
One hen is enough for a rooster. Any more is just a bonus.

Is crowing necessary for breeding? Because he’s a dam mute one…
Crowing is not necessary for anything more than claiming territory auditorily. It's how a rooster lets other roosters know this location has a resident mature male. A de-crowed rooster is still fertile, but as a general rule, if he isn't crowing despite not having been injured in order to prevent it, his hormones are not at peak function and chances are he's sterile or subfertile. It you're not sure he's a rooster, post a pic and people can let you know for sure. Hens can crow and mount and mate and grow proper spurs, just like roosters, too. An 'obvious' rooster who isn't crowing may be a hen instead.

Oh, if you have any pictures on the difference between fertile or non-fertile eggs…That’d be awesome
Sorry, I don't, but there's some on this forum somewhere. But having said that, I've seen what should have been guaranteed early embryonic deaths or later embryo deaths magically hatch live chicks, lol. Some or most follow the prescribed pattern, others don't, but better to discard those that don't, as the development patterns are often heritable. You can end up breeding whole family lines of birds that can't get out of their eggs without human intervention. As a general rule the yolks will be much darker within 3 days of being brooded, if they're fertile.

Best wishes with your flock.