please help me settle something

[WstTxLady]

My father-in-law (late 70's) has got it in his head that since all my birds (roosters & hens) free range and are not separated by breeds, he thinks that NONE of my eggs will be pure if I hatch any out. I told him that WHEN I want to breed to hatch eggs, all I have to do is separate them & collect the eggs for a week or so then let them set the rest and they WILL be pure. He swears that's wrong, that once a roo tops a hen, no matter what roo, she will lay only eggs from him. I can NOT convince him that is NOT TRUE.

What are the exact/about time you let a roo does his business before the hatchable eggs ARE from him??

THANKS

[jbowyer01]

My understanding is that you would only have to separate the hen and roo from the other roos for a week or two then you would be able to have offspring from strictly that duo.

[KSALguy]

hens hold sperm to fertilize multiple eggs, technically you only need to put a rooster with your hen once a week for fertil eggs, a hen can lay fertil eggs after being taken away from the rooster for anywhere between on and 3 weeks but it all depends on the INDIVIDUAL hen AND rooster,

BUT, if you take that same hen and put her with a NEW rooster she CAN start laying eggs from the NEW rooster almost emediately, because new fresh sperm takes priority over older saved sperm, you can have both old and new contributions mixed up togather for anywhere from 1-3 weeks AGAIN depending on the INDIVIDUAL HEN and ROOSTER.

ALSO there is a study that has been posted on here before where hens kept in a mixed flock with multiple roosters have the ability to CHOOSE who they accept the actual contribution from, even though any rooster could force his advances she can choose which rooster she would rather retain sperm from,

[lonelyfarmgirl]

I usually put the hen and roo together in a cage for 3 weeks before I take any eggs for hatching. This gives the hen a chance to fully accept her new situation and give to the dominance of the new rooster.

[Wisconsin Ann]

Yup. separate the hen/rooster combo you want purebreds from for at least 2 weeks, then start collecting eggs. 3 weeks is safer.

[lisa's garden]

Sounds like an old husband's tale to me!

[wintrrwolf]

I just love hearing those old tales! Not.
I hear at least 2 weeks, would say 3 would be safer bet.

[mygoat]

When I want purebred hatching eggs for my own use, I start setting them 2 weeks after separation. If I sell hatching eggs them to someone, they are separated at least 3 weeks.

There was a thread on a different forum on HT about some other wive's tales like this. One was that a purebred bitch (dog) is ruined once a different breed dog covered her. All subsequent puppies from other litters would be mutts, hehe. Someone came up with a good hypothesis for the source of this rumor. Imagine breeding your bitch to the stud of choice. The owner, not understanding mating habits of dogs, figures she's bred now. Later, the dog ties again with a roaming male. The result are some purebred puppies, some mutt puppies - since dogs can have litters that are sired by different males.

[BamaNana]

If it were me, I'd give him this one... He's in his late 70's...
You know he's wrong. But what's better, proving you're right or making him happy?