chrismahon
Well-known member
Our Blue Laced Wyandottes are getting old (5 years now) so we decided to let a local breeder have eggs to get a stock of our bloodline and save us breeding because space is limited. Our line is much larger than the breed standard. The breed standard is over 4Kg for a cock, but most lines run very close to that. Our original cock was 5.5Kg and his predecessor even bigger. Anyway 26 eggs later and only one chick -a very strong one though!
In the meantime disaster has struck the Southwest and all the other breeders have had major problems. Two were wiped out by foxes and another has fertility problems- the eggs she supplied to the same breeder we supplied were all candled clear at 8 days. It looked like the breed was becoming extinct in this region.
I've read posts on forums about cockerel fertility problems before and I can say with certainty that, in the case of new introductions, it isn't necessarily a medical issue but can be one of accessibility. If the hens don't recognised the new boy as top they won't submit and this was the problem we faced. After the loss of Merlin the only cockerel we could buy at the time here turned out to be rather small. Zebedee's colouring is superb, but he grew to remain underweight and is only the same weight as his hens. As such the hens had no respect for him and would fight off his advances. We've had to work hard to improve his status.
First thing was to check him over. He appeared in perfect health, but he got a shot of cod liver oil anyway. We changed to best quality feed, which we had to order in specially. The gate to the enclosure was changed to allow view of the enthusiastic cock (Jean-Claude) in the next pen- apparently this is meant to stimulate his virility. We gave treats of rearers mash. Put 13 more eggs in the incubator but still they candled clear. We checked that the hens were not too old by incubating three gold laced -hens which were from the same original hatch. Two of three were fertile, candled at 8 days, so no problem there.
We leg ringed the hens so that we could tell who he was treading from a distance. Then we spent a lot of time watching. It became apparent that he was behaving more like a hen than a cockerel. He certainly wasn't the leader and spent most of his time on his own whilst the hens wandered around individually. Occasionally he would tread Jemima, but usually she would fight him off. He was first in the run in the mornings but the hens stayed in the coop. When they did eventually come out into the run they just ignored him and he did nothing about it. So we set about subduing the hens and forcing them out of the coop. We also trimmed the feathers around their vents (and his) to improve the chances of successful mating. We are now in the situation that the flock is properly established. The hens follow him everywhere, they communally soil bath and he calls them to treats taking none for himself. He is treading them all, but not sufficiently really, as the window for successful fertilisation is quite small- best immediately after laying. However, having incubated another 80 eggs we still haven't had one fertile so have concluded he must be infertile, which is a real shame because he is a lovely chap.
I read recently that fertility is a significant issue with rose comb breeds. The sperm life is shorter than a straight comb cock (10 days not 17). Experienced breeders in America keep 'throwback' straight comb cocks to maintain fertility in the flock. We have an accidental Orpington x Wyandotte and the resulting comb is rose shaped but has points distributed over it. I have concluded that an indication of the presence of straight comb genes may be the texture of the comb. Our original cocks had small bobbles on the surface and some were the texture of sandpaper. Zebedee's comb is perfectly smooth, which may indicate an inherent fertility problem.
The decision was made to get a new cockerel, but we decided not to risk anything in this area because it looks like fertility is perhaps almost bred out. A scan on Leboncoin (bit like Preloved, but far more extensive) revealed that there were no cockerels in this region anyway and only 3 within driving distance. With my limited spoken French the best option was someone English, which turned out to be the shortest distance anyway. It also turned out that I had already contacted her, in French on the breeders website, but that the cock advertised had been sold. However someone had hatching eggs from her last year and had two cockerels to sell. I made the 800km round trip (500 miles), buying what I consider to be the best of the pair with good temperament and a bobbly comb. See what happens? He is a bit agoraphobic because he lived in a box with just a mesh window at the front- fine in the boot of the car but he wasn't in an open sided run. He's calmed down now and appears in tip-top condition. The difficulty is dealing with Zebedee of course.
In the meantime disaster has struck the Southwest and all the other breeders have had major problems. Two were wiped out by foxes and another has fertility problems- the eggs she supplied to the same breeder we supplied were all candled clear at 8 days. It looked like the breed was becoming extinct in this region.
I've read posts on forums about cockerel fertility problems before and I can say with certainty that, in the case of new introductions, it isn't necessarily a medical issue but can be one of accessibility. If the hens don't recognised the new boy as top they won't submit and this was the problem we faced. After the loss of Merlin the only cockerel we could buy at the time here turned out to be rather small. Zebedee's colouring is superb, but he grew to remain underweight and is only the same weight as his hens. As such the hens had no respect for him and would fight off his advances. We've had to work hard to improve his status.
First thing was to check him over. He appeared in perfect health, but he got a shot of cod liver oil anyway. We changed to best quality feed, which we had to order in specially. The gate to the enclosure was changed to allow view of the enthusiastic cock (Jean-Claude) in the next pen- apparently this is meant to stimulate his virility. We gave treats of rearers mash. Put 13 more eggs in the incubator but still they candled clear. We checked that the hens were not too old by incubating three gold laced -hens which were from the same original hatch. Two of three were fertile, candled at 8 days, so no problem there.
We leg ringed the hens so that we could tell who he was treading from a distance. Then we spent a lot of time watching. It became apparent that he was behaving more like a hen than a cockerel. He certainly wasn't the leader and spent most of his time on his own whilst the hens wandered around individually. Occasionally he would tread Jemima, but usually she would fight him off. He was first in the run in the mornings but the hens stayed in the coop. When they did eventually come out into the run they just ignored him and he did nothing about it. So we set about subduing the hens and forcing them out of the coop. We also trimmed the feathers around their vents (and his) to improve the chances of successful mating. We are now in the situation that the flock is properly established. The hens follow him everywhere, they communally soil bath and he calls them to treats taking none for himself. He is treading them all, but not sufficiently really, as the window for successful fertilisation is quite small- best immediately after laying. However, having incubated another 80 eggs we still haven't had one fertile so have concluded he must be infertile, which is a real shame because he is a lovely chap.
I read recently that fertility is a significant issue with rose comb breeds. The sperm life is shorter than a straight comb cock (10 days not 17). Experienced breeders in America keep 'throwback' straight comb cocks to maintain fertility in the flock. We have an accidental Orpington x Wyandotte and the resulting comb is rose shaped but has points distributed over it. I have concluded that an indication of the presence of straight comb genes may be the texture of the comb. Our original cocks had small bobbles on the surface and some were the texture of sandpaper. Zebedee's comb is perfectly smooth, which may indicate an inherent fertility problem.
The decision was made to get a new cockerel, but we decided not to risk anything in this area because it looks like fertility is perhaps almost bred out. A scan on Leboncoin (bit like Preloved, but far more extensive) revealed that there were no cockerels in this region anyway and only 3 within driving distance. With my limited spoken French the best option was someone English, which turned out to be the shortest distance anyway. It also turned out that I had already contacted her, in French on the breeders website, but that the cock advertised had been sold. However someone had hatching eggs from her last year and had two cockerels to sell. I made the 800km round trip (500 miles), buying what I consider to be the best of the pair with good temperament and a bobbly comb. See what happens? He is a bit agoraphobic because he lived in a box with just a mesh window at the front- fine in the boot of the car but he wasn't in an open sided run. He's calmed down now and appears in tip-top condition. The difficulty is dealing with Zebedee of course.
