Chickens are a great source of cheap meat and healthy eggs. Anyone can engage in breeding of birds, since investments in such a matter can be very minimal. It will be enough to purchase several chickens and one rooster, and in a year your farm will increase several times. Have you thought about how the process of breeding chicken at home? In our article you will find a lot of useful and entertaining information on this subject.
Reproductive systems of roosters and hens
Decided to find out all about the reproduction and development of animals? Chicken in this regard is not distinguished by something special. Producers have fairly small testes, from which very thin channels depart, ending in a cesspool. As for the seminal fluid, it enters the cesspool with the help of the nipple. The genitals of roosters can hardly be called similar to the organs of other animals, but they do not stand out anything special among other birds.
As for chickens, they have ovaries located on the left and right sides of the body (near the kidneys). The organs are held at the expense of a special serous membrane. In the ovaries there is a large number of oocytes (usually about two thousand), which are very small in size, so they can only be seen under a microscope. It is oocytes and spermatozoa that play the main role in the fertilization of the egg.
What is the fertilization process?
Now you know about the chicken reproductive organs, however, in order to understand the whole process of reproduction, you should also analyze the fertilization process in detail. It is carried out with the help of a cloaca - an opening under the tail, which looks like an expanded part of the intestine. When the moment of mating occurs, the cesspool turns outward, so that the seminal organs can freely get inside to fertilize the egg.
The release of seminal fluid, as a rule, occurs a few minutes after the introduction of the testis into the cloaca. The seed has a lifespan of about 20 days, so all eggs received from a hen during this time will be considered fertilized, that is, small chicks will be able to hatch from them. However, in order for chickens to be born, it is necessary to take into account many more nuances that can interfere with this.
How many roosters need to be kept on the farm?
In order for the process of breeding chickens to proceed with maximum productivity, it is necessary to keep a sufficient number of young roosters on the farm who are able to fertilize the female. As a rule, one male, with excellent health, is able to conduct about 20 mating per day. Although the breeder must understand that the number of mating has a huge impact on the quality of the seminal fluid.
So that the concentration of sperm cells is not reduced, it is necessary to keep at least six roosters on fifty chickens on the farm. Of course, a lot also depends on the breed, however, a beginner farmer who decides to start breeding meat and egg breed of hens at home, it is recommended to adhere to these proportions, since they are considered the most optimal. Too many males should not be kept either.
Why sometimes two yolks in an egg ripen?
Breeding chicken is a rather entertaining process, which has many different nuances. Perhaps, every person at least once came across a chicken egg, which has two yolks at once. This phenomenon is due to the fact that as a result of fertilization, two eggs mature at once. Two chicks may well hatch from such an egg, although practice shows that chicks develop much slower than their counterparts.
As a rule, one egg is ripened per day in a chicken (in rare cases, two). If at the time of maturation in the cesspool is the seminal fluid of a rooster, then the process of fertilization occurs. The sperm enters the oocyte through the thick membrane and fertilizes the egg. Just like in humans, only the fastest sperm can penetrate inside. It is in such a "lottery" that the fertilization process lies.
Egg maturation
We continue to understand the process of breeding chicken and rooster. The next step is the maturation of the egg. That is, the fertilized oocyte begins to turn into a yellow mass called the yolk. After the ripening process, the membrane breaks, and the yolk penetrates the oviduct. There is an ovulation process. That is, it is in the oviduct that one of the main stages of chicken reproduction occurs - the formation of the egg membrane, although fertilization itself is carried out in the cloaca.
In the genital tract, the egg connects to the seed. Since shell formation has not yet taken place, sperm can get inside an already fertilized egg, but they will not play any role, since only one sperm can fertilize one egg, although each egg contains about 60 germ cells, which in theory could become future chicks. The shell appears 24 hours after fertilization.
Manufacturer's choice
How rich and beautiful the world is! Breeding chickens is an interesting part of nature, which deserves special attention of a person, especially if this person decided to engage in breeding birds at home. However, for this process to be as successful as possible, certain rules must be followed. For example, you should choose a male who can transmit good genetic qualities to offspring.
It is recommended that the breeder pay special attention to the mass and health of the rooster, since without these indicators it is unlikely to get good offspring. Male selection is carried out among six-month-old birds. If we are talking about thoroughbred cocks, then it is also worth considering the coloring, especially if the appearance is one of the main indicators for the breeder. In other cases, you should choose the largest and most active male, and the rest for slaughter.
How to check an egg for an embryo?
If you doubt whether a chicken egg has fertilized, then you can check for the presence of an embryo in a fairly simple way - just bring the egg to a strong light source. If the product has a noticeable dark spot with emerging contours, then fertilization has been successful, and in the near future we should expect the appearance of a chick in the light. The absence of a dark spot suggests the opposite - an egg can be eaten without remorse.
Also, more accurate information about the presence of an embryo can give a device called an ovoscope. However, a novice breeder should understand that it will be practically impossible to determine the fact of fertilization from the very first days. Owners of large poultry farms usually buy ovoscopes. Such a device allows you to place in the incubators only fertilized eggs and hatch more chickens.
Conclusion
We hope our article has helped you learn more about the reproduction and development of chicken. If you still have any questions about this, we recommend that you watch a short video in which the author tells in detail the whole process of egg formation in chicken. This video is really very entertaining and highly recommended for viewing by people who decide to engage in breeding birds at home.
As you can see, chicken reproduction is not such a difficult topic as it might seem at first glance. It will be enough to study the basic theoretical information, after which it will be possible to apply knowledge in practice in order to increase the number of households. The most important thing is to choose for breeding only a really healthy and adult rooster, which can transmit good genes to offspring. Otherwise, the chickens will grow and develop extremely slowly, and the total value of adults will be significantly reduced.