This article is about fertilization of eggs as well as sexual maturity.
Chickens are used as an example in this paper because mating is essentially no different in any breed of poultry.
Seiteninhalt
The fertilization
During fertilization, the rooster climbs onto the bent hen and presses its cloaca onto that of the hen.
The cloaca in poultry contains, among other things, the common sexual organs.
Through this procedure, the rooster’s semen enters the hen’s ovary and thus fertilizes the eggs.
Chickens, unlike humans, have only one ovary.
How many eggs can be fertilized in one cycle?
Approximately 5 to 8 eggs can be fertilized in one cycle.
The amount of fertilized eggs depends on the general condition and age of both animals.
The more sperm there are in the semen, the better the chance of fertilizing more eggs.
Furthermore, the amount of fertilized eggs depends on the number of egg follicles that develop in time in the ovary.
In general, it can be argued that sexually mature juveniles can produce more quantity than older or weakened animals.
The life span of sperm is relatively short. This means that fertilization from the first cycle is over after 10 to 16 days and the sperm die.
The fertilization of the first eggs by the rooster takes place for the first time approximately after 2 days.
For example, a rooster mates with a hen, and the hen lays an egg the next day. This will definitely not be fertilized. Only from day 3 or after 48 hours you can expect fertilized eggs.
If you want to get as many fertilized eggs as possible, then the rooster should mate the hen every 4 days.
Support the fertilization of the hen
They can help fertilize the hen and get a higher fertilization rate.
To do this, you need to cut away the feathers around the cloaca.
This process is recommended if you, as a breeder, want to achieve the highest possible rates in the offspring.
Usually, the plumage around the cloaca of the rooster and the hen is cut away for this purpose in order to favorably influence the fertilization rate.
When are the rooster and the hen sexually mature?
A young rooster normally starts courtship behavior from about the 24th week of life. So the love game.
The sperm are ready for fertilization of hens weeks earlier. However, a young rooster usually does not recognize mating opportunities because he has not yet developed courtship behavior and cannot interpret the hen’s mating signals.
It is therefore advisable to accustom young roosters to hens as early as possible.
Hens become sexually mature on average from the 12th to 16th week and start laying eggs from the 21st week.
However, the laying time can shift quite strongly to the back. So there are also hens, which begin only after 8 months or later with the laying of eggs.
Furthermore, sexual maturity and onset of laying can also vary greatly due to factors such as breed, feeding, season and environment.
Sexual maturity of other poultry species
- Ducks – from 5 months
- Pheasants – up to one year
- Geese – from 6 month
- Ganter – from 6 month
- Quail hens – from the 8th week
- Quail rooster- from the 8-10th week
- Warty ducks – from the 5th month
Note: Sexual maturity may vary and be delayed depending on genetics, breed and circumstances.
Sexual maturity has nothing in common with laying maturity.
Laying maturity, when a hen begins to lay eggs, often begins later than sexual maturity and is also partly dependent on the time of year.
If a bird has become sexually mature, this does not automatically mean that courtship also begins at the same time.