Is it feasible????

[Snadger]

To keep cockerels seperated from laying hens, bung em together for a few days until you have enough fertile eggs for hatching, then take them out again?
I have a couple of cockerels I would like to keep, but I dont want them running all the time with the various hens I have thats all.
Also there's something that goes against the grain for me, eating fertilised eggs!

[bluemoon]

I've been wondering this too, Snadger. Not too worried about eating fertilized eggs as you can't tell, but Coco is a bit of a lad and sometimes I think it might be better to separate him from the girls for a while, especially if/when they start to show signs of treading damage. At the moment any damage is limited to slightly frayed feathers, but I've seen some awful photos of hens with extremely sore and broken skin after too much attention from a cockerel and I don't want my girls in that condition. I believe that people who show their chickens just have their cockerels in with the hens for a few weeks, but this is because they have to time the hatching of the chicks precisely in order for them to be ready and fully feathered for the show dates. And I haven't a clue what they do with the cockerels when they're not in with the hens. My other plan was to pop Coco in with the Rhodies for a time (any resultant chicks would be Bluebelles as he's a Copper Black Marans), then back in with the Marans ladies when they'd had a bit of a break. I was sort of hoping that he'd lose interest a little when he's older too, at the moment his brain is hard-wired in one direction.

[Snadger]

I've managed to rescue my LS hen which was hatched the same time as my SIX cockerels! Poor bugger had no lfe at all as they were all leaping on her.
I have ISA brown, LS and Dorking hens of various ages which I would like to breed from at a later date with the remaining LS cockerel or a Faverolle cockerel...........but not now!

[RichmondHens]

It is possible, Snadge but it will stress birds to constantly take them in and out of pens, for whatever reason. The only reason hens get bad treading damage is if the cock to hen ratio is too high. You should have at least 6 - 8 hens per cock. Some breeds require an even higher ratio than this. For the standard breeding trio, damage does occur a lot as one cock to two hens is a little unfair on the hens, methinks! One good cock can easily cover 8 hens.

As for your problem with eating unfertilised eggs, maybe you should keep a separate pen of ladies you don't wish to breed from, don't put a cock in, and eat only their eggs yourself, and sell the rest of the eggs? Just a thought. So you have your breeding pens, and your laying pen.

[Bramble-Poultry]

Perfectly feasable - the hens will need to run with the cock for around a week before you can guarantee that all the eggs collected are fertile, the only trouble you may get is if the hens decide to mob him. Leave him for a couple of weeks in with them so they all settle together and don't get stressed and then move him out again.

If you are worried about damage to the hens get them/make them a saddle, really worth it.

However if the two cocks have grown up together they should be fine together UNTIL .... ladies are involved if you put both into 1 run with ladies they will fight, if you remove 1 cock and place him in the run you will then have problems reintroducing him back with the other cock.

we run our breeding stock seperate from the laying flock, this offers us several advantages, we do not eat fertilised eggs, we have no cock fights and we can ensure the offspring are pure not crossbreed. This works for us because we have the space, may not be feasable in a garden, but you may be able to run a trio in a broody coop and let them free range occasionally when you have shut the others up.

[bluemoon]

I think a lot of it depends upon the cockerel too. My Coco is in with 6 bossy and opinionated marans ladies, yet is rampant and insatiable!!!! Elvis, our cuckoo marans is smaller, quieter, in with two young silkie sussex crosses and is a complete gentleman.

[Nicos]

bluemoon..Coco and Elvis were Lynda's babies???..any chance of piccies now they are grown up???

Snadge....we have 2 cockerels with 5 ladies..both brothers...and they get on fine. Paxo knows Au Vin is ze big boss.
If I think about eating fertile eggs I think twice...but in reality you'd have absolutely no idea.
...just leave them to it..the lads will care for the gals and any babies..so much easier