Dean Collins

I get that once a hen reaches puberty that they will start egg production (and understand its every 24-28 hours for good layers) and have also read that a hen can "store sperm" internally for up to 4 weeks to fertilize eggs as they are produced but what i dont understand is if you take an egg away from a hen does this "stop" embryo development by putting the egg into the fridge?

In the same way how do hens end up "hatching" multiple chicks at the same time if they only lay eggs once a day and then need to sit on them for about 3 weeks?

Also do you need to keep your roosters/hens in a separate pen that you are wanting to breed chicks from the hens that you are just keeping for egg production? or if you get a different breed is this enough to stop the rooster trying to breed with them?

I was planning on having a coop with run and free range so thinking maybe i can keep layers and meaties in the same coop but allow them into the run/free range on alternate days to stop my layers getting impregnated.

Lastly i'm assuming hens "stop" egg production when they are brooding and sitting on eggs? or do they continue to lay but get "off the nest" to go and lay eggs elsewhere?

lol sorry for so many questions.

hey dumb question but city slicker with no chicken experience.......

I read this online
"the hen does not ever need to be around a rooster to lay them. chickens don`t have a choice in whether or not to lay eggs, they have to. also, a chick will not start to develop in the egg until it has started being incubated. that is why a hen will lay an egg a day in her nest, then if she`s feeling 'broody' after a week or so, she will start to sit on them.. they won`t start developing until she does start sitting, which is natures way of making sure they all hatch around the same time."


Is this correct?
Eg can you eat a fertilized egg as long as it hasn't been sat on/incubated? Do you have to have a rooster to get your first set of eggs? (eg like a cow with milk)
How do farmers keep chickens and roosters when most of the time they want eggs but sometimes they want to hatch chicks for meat or to refresh their stock?
Do you keep the roosters separate and sometimes put some hens into their run (like you do with rabbits) to have them fertilized then keep them separate until they finish brooding? (so you dont mix up the non fertilized eggs).

Lastly how often can a hen have another set of chicks?



Lol so many questions and no experience with the birds and the bees

chowan Hatfield wrote:

T. Pierce wrote:
but how is putting them in a colony easier than raising them in a cage?

the very first post said "raising in colonies.....opposed to raising in cages......is arguably less work"

I run both colonies and cages depending on the time of year

and during summer a colony is much less work because it cuts down on feeding time by a heap for example i probably only need to feed and water them weekly in a colony.

I dont need to worry about over heating so it saves me having to mess with
sprinklers or ice pack.

where i dont agree with the OP is that i believe cages are in many ways safer and healthier for the rabbits especially during breeding season

Do you have photos of your cages/colony you can share?

so its been a couple of months...... how did it work out?

how do you prevent water getting into the barrel?/stop the dampness coming up from the ground.

Curious to know how well this project worked out, also what do people do to seperate/prevent over population? do you stud males in fom time to time but otherwise keep them seperate?

Also how large an area did you "fence in" and how much do you supplement in food as i imagine it would be very costly to fence in a large enough area that is self sustaining.

I'm looking forward to more photos

Dabumb Hatfield wrote:

Here's a video on Wall Foam

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcVLYhEaF-s

OMG so much BS salesman speak in that 4 min video i wouldnt trust them to cross the road in a straight line.