The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: suziequeue on January 15, 2014, 01:44:01 pm

Title: When do hens become fertile?
Post by: suziequeue on January 15, 2014, 01:44:01 pm

The cream legbars that we hatched under a broody last year are coming into lay.... We had a small blue egg earlier this week. Very excited!!


As part of my plan to have a variety of colour in my egg boxes, I plan to cross the legbars with a Welsummer cockerel and hopefully the resulting hens will lay olive eggs next year.


Both the cockerel and hens were hatched in 2013.


Would I get fertile eggs off them this summer? Or shall I wait until next year?

Title: Re: When do hens become fertile?
Post by: Clansman on January 15, 2014, 01:52:52 pm

If they are almost a year old they will certainly be fertile.

If you were breeding pure breeds i'd wait till the second year just to see what the birds turned out like but if you are just breeding crosses for egg colour then go for it!  :thumbsup:

Title: Re: When do hens become fertile?
Post by: suziequeue on January 17, 2014, 05:53:35 pm

Thanks Clansman  ;D ;D

Title: Re: When do hens become fertile?
Post by: Greenerlife on January 17, 2014, 06:12:19 pm

I got very excited last week when my Colombine laid her first egg and it was a greeny blue!  Mixed colour boxes of eggs are just strangely appealing somehow.

Title: Re: When do hens become fertile?
Post by: Marches Farmer on January 19, 2014, 11:42:22 am

You will probably get a better hatch rate from hens laying in their second and third years.