Chickens

[4getmenot]

When a hen lays a number of eggs can they have different roosters as the father? Say the first egg be from rooster 1 then the second out from rooster 2?

[Catso]

Simple answer - yes, they can.

[nickmo]

Hens lay eggs unfertilised and so you won't find a need for a rooster for every egg layed. Otherwise there would be some very tired roosters in the battery farms . . . .

[4getmenot]

Simple reply. Thank you :-)

[dancecaller]

Hens only lay one a day and save them to start incubating when they've got enough (if we give them the chance)

But that raises another question. Does the rooster have to do his stuff every day for fertile eggs, or does the hen save it up?

[Clanad]

If the rooster is removed for any reason, a fertilized hen will remain so for up to four weeks. She stores the unused sperm in so called "sperm nests" located along the oviduct of the hen. Since she only produces one egg each 24 hours, she needs to retain the sperm to fertilize each new egg. Although catso is technically correct, it would be unusual for different eggs to be fertilized by different roosters in a short period of time... One rooster can service about 12 to 18 hens quite satisfactorily... This of course depends on the health, age and breed of the rooster...