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Gertie

Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Posts: 1638
Location: Yorkshire

Posted: Wed Jan 19, 05 9:25 pm Post subject: The Subject of Sex

That got your interest!!!

Those of you who keep/have kept poultry are going to think I am a right thickie.

The subject of cockerels came up at work today - because I have been talking about chickens again!! If you have a cockerel and your hens are laying eggs can you eat them if you are a ova/lacto vegetarian?

I would say the answer is strictly no - does this make sense or am I talking twaddle?

Please tell me and put me out of my misery!

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Wed Jan 19, 05 9:33 pm Post subject:
What's an ova/lacto vegetarian? If you have a cockerel the eggs may be fertile and people have hatched eggs from supermarkets.

Gertie

Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Posts: 1638
Location: Yorkshire

Posted: Wed Jan 19, 05 9:39 pm Post subject:
Thanks, Treacodactyl. They are vegetarians who don't eat meat, but do drink milk and eat eggs. B*gger me, didn't think about eggs from supermarkets hatching.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Wed Jan 19, 05 9:43 pm Post subject:
It's not that unusual, eggs are often laid over a week in a nest and only start to grow when they receive heat. I've read of people using eggs from the fridge and they hatch. Duck eggs are always fertile I think, not sure about geese and other birds.

Gertie

Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Posts: 1638
Location: Yorkshire

Posted: Wed Jan 19, 05 9:50 pm Post subject:
I've never tried a goose egg - I like a duck egg.

Gertie

Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Posts: 1638
Location: Yorkshire

Posted: Sat Jan 29, 05 5:02 pm Post subject:
Had a debate at work today - do hens lay better if there is a cockerel kept with them - I said I didn't think so, they will lay them anyway. My friend says I talk sh*t. Do I or don't I.

alison
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 12918
Location: North Devon

Posted: Sat Jan 29, 05 9:39 pm Post subject:
a hen needs 26 hours or good sunlight to produce and egg, that is why they lay less in the winter. A cockerel will not help them lay any more, and cannot get them into lay. He can help keep the peace, if there are a few argumentative hens there.

Gertie

Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Posts: 1638
Location: Yorkshire

Posted: Sun Jan 30, 05 1:11 pm Post subject:
THANK YOU, Alison I can now go into work tomorrow and say I don't talk sh*t (well not where this is concerned, anway). Thanks for that!!!

Blue Sky

Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 7658
Location: France

Posted: Sun Jan 30, 05 1:58 pm Post subject: On the subject of sex

Sorry if I am butting in here but we keep hens on our smallholding in France and we are ova/lacto(fisho) vegetarians. We have a cockeril but he is kept seperate from the hens until one of them goes broody or we decide that one of them should go broody. I know that this is frustrating and probably somewhat unfair to the poor cockerill but it is how we prefer our eggs (un-fertilised) and he sure makes up for it when he does get a week or two of work. This may or may not be relevant but it is our perspective on the subject.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45671
Location: Essex

Posted: Sun Jan 30, 05 2:02 pm Post subject:
Never worry about butting in.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Sun Jan 30, 05 6:52 pm Post subject:
I was going to say, would having a cockerel with the hens make them go broody more often and result in less eggs? Two of our three don't need an invitation to go broody without a cockerel.

Blue Sky

Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 7658
Location: France

Posted: Sun Jan 30, 05 8:14 pm Post subject: chicks
I think hens just go broody when they go broody - and good on 'em. Who are we to tell them how to behave? One of our hens went broody all by herself last summer and out of about a dozen eggs only one hatched but that could well have been my fault for not getting the cock in there in time. The chick that hatched is doing very well however

DarrenG

Joined: 26 Dec 2004
Posts: 110
Location: Lincolnshire Fens

Posted: Wed Feb 02, 05 9:38 am Post subject:
[quote="Treacodactyl Duck eggs are always fertile I think, not sure about geese and other birds.[/quote]duck are not allways fertile, you do need a drake

DarrenG

Joined: 26 Dec 2004
Posts: 110
Location: Lincolnshire Fens

Posted: Wed Feb 02, 05 9:44 am Post subject: Re: On the subject of sex

sjcheslop wrote:

tell you what m8 you are talking absolute twaddle if the hen has gone broody its to late to put the cock bird in for starters if shes broody you cant get her out of the box for the cock bird to serve her, normally a hen finishes lay on or about the twelveth or thirteenth day after the onset of broodiness, and it takes 10 days for a fertilised yolk to reach the nest

Blue Sky

Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 7658
Location: France

Posted: Wed Feb 02, 05 7:12 pm Post subject: Re: On the subject of sex

[quote="DarrenG]tell you what m8 you are talking absolute twaddle if the hen has gone broody its to late to put the cock bird in for starters if shes broody you cant get her out of the box for the cock bird to serve her, normally a hen finishes lay on or about the twelveth or thirteenth day after the onset of broodiness, and it takes 10 days for a fertilised yolk to reach the nest[/quote]

OK, yes you have a good point. Sorry I didn't state my method clearly. We have lots of hens. As soon as one of ours goes broody she will sit on the nest and not move from that spot as you stated. What we do then is let out cock in amongst the rest of the hens for a week or two and start introducing fertile eggs to the "broody hen's" box (which she has not had any objection to in our experience). I have been advised in the past that a broody hen will happily sit on a dozen to 18 eggs and so that is what we aim for. As I stated in my original comment - maybe this is too late for the eggs to be fertile and maybe this is why we only got one chick last time. I do not proclaim to be an expert in poultry raising but I was merely offering my opinion. On re-thinking the matter we will maybe keep our cock with a few of the hens all of the time to ensure a better chance of fertile eggs once one has gone broody.

Thank you for your input - we welcome all constructive critisism.

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