Clear eggs again...

can anyone give me thier opinion on this please........

every year i pair a 05 cock up and the first round every time is clear......ive tried different hens and this still happens. then after the first round most, if not all his eggs will hatch, this has happened for the last three years now so has anyone any thoughtsd on this...?

I have noticed some cocks tread the hens in thier boxes, while others favour a perching place like an aviery or fountain shelf, then others prefer the floor. If hes a cock who goes to the floor e.c.t rather than his box then he constantly gets knocked off by the other cocks, after the first ones are clear he can tread in peace as the other cocks in the loft are on the small babies during the day and he gets more time for treading in peace, thats my theroryas he is clearly fertile .

yes martyn, this sounds a good explanation for why this is happeneing.........i suppose i should remove his first round eggs every year so he will fertilize his next round.


i do think you could be right about him being knocked off his hen when treading her as there are 6 pairs of stock birds in a 7 x 5 loft which isnt really that big is it and with no aviery either.

Im sure thats the problem, especially if there are any yearling cocks in there they are buggers, Also once birds are settled they seem to stop jumping on cocks about to tread , but when just mated they go a bit mad.
I have had a lot of clear eggs this year, well about 15 in total mostly from yearlings which are clearly fertile, so thats what Im putting that down to in my loft. But Im sure the next round will be fine.

im sure you are right martyn, all the other cocks are younger than him 07 and 09 birds.....altho at one point he was the top bird in the loft until two pairs of newcomers took over the floor and laid eggs on it.