own chicks?

[BUFFS]

having no experience of breeding my own chicks,i live with quite a few houses around,so i could not keep a cockerel permenantly,so if i got hold of one ,how long would i need to keep him with the girls to ensure some reliably fertilised eggs,as i dont want any irate shift workers banging on my door,any advice most welcome...ta.

[Snadger]

It really depends on the date he was hatched and his maturity date which varies with each breed. Worse case scenario is that he matures just before winter, crows through the winter and doesn't do the business until the spring when young mens/cockerels fancy turns to.....................

[RichmondHens]

You could probably expect the girls to be producing fertile eggs after 2 weeks, but it would be easier to just buy in fertile hatching eggs. However, if you are in a neighbourhood that will not tolerate cocks, have you thought about what are you going to do with all the cock chicks you hatch? Some may start crowing as early as 7 or 8 weeks old depending on the breed, albeit not very loudly at that stage. In most cases, each hatch will be at least 50% male. Even if you intend to fatten them for the pot, they will be crowing for a long time before they are up to table weight.

[frias]

Buffs, please take note of what RH says. I would like a couple more Welsummers but I'm going to look for pullets as when I let the broody sit, I only got one girl from the hatch and couldn't keep the boys because of the proximity of neighbours.

[Bramble-Poultry]

i am in agreement with the above. if you are in an area that doesnt like cockerels, then you will need to buy in fertile eggs, there are loads on eBay - with varying degrees of success or even honesty, or you could try Bid4poultry.co.uk - Poultry suppplies, garden poultry, houses, feed, drinkers, incubators, and hatching eggs etc. where there are a few breeders on there selling eggs and a reputation to uphold!

however, those you hatch are likely to be 50/50 cockerels and hens and so you will be bringing the problem with you! if you want to see fluffy chicks, then look to an autosexing breed, so that at day one you can tell the sex of the chicks and then you will know who are the boys are cad either dispose of them or sell them on to someone who wants young growers. Again Bid4Poultry allows you to sell live birds.

good autosexing breeds are Cobar, Cream Legbar and the traditional sussex x RIR

[Snadger]

And just a note to say that 50% is just an average..........you could hatch ALL cockerels and have to keep them for ages before you find out!

I put 10 eggs in to hatch, two didn't hatch and out of the eight that did, five were cockerels!

You have been warned!

[BUFFS]

thanks all of you for the imput,i ithink i fancied raising some of my own,but,now with a bit more knowledge,i dont think it would worth my while.i have had a few thoughts about the costs as well and it does not seem worth my while for the 4 (max) chicks i require.i can get blackrocks/bluebelles etc for £9-£10 pol so i will just buy them in.once again,thank you all for your help and knowledge..saved me a lot of time and money,i would be lost without this site.