When I went to shut the chickens in tonight, I noticed that my most reliable layer had more pink in her comb and wattles! I checked where the chickens sleep, and sure enough there was a nice brown egg in it! YES!
She is 3 years old and still laying well: I WOULD hatch out some eggs from her but my rooster is shooting blanks. He is sterile, pure and simple.
Eggs have a small disk on them that is slightly larger in fertile eggs, and none of my eggs show that. Just to be certain I let the banty set on some: she did a good job of it but after 25 days I knew it was hopeless so I removed the eggs. Ruby is one of the 2 best hens that I have ever owned, and I would LOVE to have her daughters in my laying flock! But the rooster is sterile.
This spring I will post a "free rooster" ad at the feed store: I have gotten rid of unwanted birds like that before. If I HAVE to I can kill a bird, but this rooster is not sick or mean and there is nothing wrong with him. He is simply useless.
More to the point, it only takes a few hens to keep my family in eggs, and if I tried to add another rooster the boys would fight all day. And, an angry rooster is sometimes mean to the hens. I simply have to get rid of
this rooster before I get in a fertile one!
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