thisNZlife

FERTILITY OPTION 1:

eggs au natural

A hen’s eggs will be fertilised about 36 hours after the first mating.

Assuming the hen hasn’t mated with another rooster beforehand, the yolk moving through the oviduct at the time of mating won’t be fertilsed. Sperm need up to 24 hours to swim up the oviduct and reach a special storage area inside the hen. The hen then releases a small amount of sperm to fertilise each yolk as it starts its journey down the oviduct.

Sperm remains viable inside the hen for about a week after mating takes place. If you change from one rooster to another, you need to wait 7-10 days before you can be sure you’re getting eggs fertilised by the new rooster.

Collecting fertile eggs

• Collect potentially fertile eggs regularly – ideally three times a day – and write the date on them in pencil.

• Sacrifice eggs for 2-3 days after mating to check if they're fertilised, so you can be confident your rooster is doing his job. Wait until at least 12 hours after the egg is laid. Crack it open gently onto a saucer, and then carefully turn the yolk until you find the white germinal disc. Fertile eggs have a small, fuzzy, white, round, donut-like spot in the yolk. An unfertilised egg will have a bright white dot with defined edges. Check every day for a few days for consistency.

• For peak hatchability, collect eggs over 6-8 days and store them in a cupboard or somewhere with a constant temperature between 10-18°C (ideally 15-16°C) – use a thermometer to check. Don't put them in the fridge.

• Use an egg tray or carton and store eggs pointy-end down. Tip the tray at a 45° angle by raising one edge one day, then the other way the next day, and so on. This helps to keep the yolk centred in the white.

• A hen can only incubate the eggs her body will cover. If you're using bantams, most can cover about 6-8 full-size eggs. The maximum for a large hen would be 14-16 eggs. If a hen tries to incubate too many eggs, the ones on the outside will be too cold to develop.

The best age for a fertile egg

Fresh isn't best when it comes to getting a good hatchability rate. Eggs less than 24 hours old when incubation commences don't have as high a hatchability rate as those that have at least a few hours to cool down first.

However, stale isn't best either. Hatchability begins to decline by about 1% per day for every day after 7 days. After three weeks (and then three weeks of incubation), average hatchability can be less than 50%.

Ideally, set eggs under a broody hen or in an incubator within 7-10 days of laying.

Size matters – eggs that are too small or too big have a lower hatching rate

Don’t be sucked in by this rooster

You may find people advertising that they’re selling a Hyline or Shaver rooster. They do exist but are very rare. A true Hyline or Shaver male chick may slip through the sexing process at the hatchery and be sold to a commercial farmer or professional rearer.

However, people who say they’re selling them often mean they have a rooster with a hybrid mother and another breed as the father. A Hyline or Shaver cross will improve the egg production of his daughters if he’s mated over a good layer, but they won’t match the output of commercially-bred Hyline or Shaver hens.

If you want a guarantee you’re getting a Hyline or Shaver rooster, the only way would be to ask one of the two commercial hatcheries in NZ if they would sell you one (or a few) as day-old chicks.

Even then, you’re not going to produce hens that will lay as well as commercial hybrids. This is because they are an incredibly complex mix of genetics from specially-bred female lines mated to specially-bred males.

People might say they're selling a hybrid rooster, but often they're mistaken.

YOUR POULTRY

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2021-08-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-08-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://thisnzlife.pressreader.com/article/282454236974277

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