A rooster is incredibly active and can mate multiple times a day, sometimes even within a minute. To keep up with this, they store sperm in multiple internal tubes, always keeping it ready for use.
“Cloacal Kiss” It might sound romantic, but it is highly efficient and quick. The rooster mounts the hen, their vents (cloacas) briefly touch for just a few seconds, and he jumps off. (Sadly) that is it. Done.
If a hen is forced to mate with a subordinate rooster she does not prefer, she can actually eject most of his sperm immediately after mating. They definitely have a say in the matter!
Hens have special sperm storage tubules inside. These tubules keep the sperm alive, nourished, and ready for fertilization for weeks. This allows a hen to lay a whole clutch of fertile eggs from just one successful mating.
Hens can produce fertile eggs for weeks with one good mating. While 2 weeks is the standard norm, some breeders have reported fertile eggs being laid up to 6 weeks (42 days) after the rooster was removed.
Fertility does not just disappear overnight. We incubate our eggs every 2 weeks, and sometimes a few are close to 3 weeks old. There is virtually no drop in fertility for eggs up to 2 weeks old as long as they are stored correctly, however, it does slowly begin to decline after that 14 day mark.
How many of these did you know? Mother nature is pretty incredible, and chooks are just the coolest creatures, aren’t they?
