Age of hens? Are they too young for my rooster?

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ChxLadyCass

ChxLadyCass

Songster
7 Years
Mar 2, 2017
455
158
186
La Junta, CO
Hello! I purchased 5 hens at an auction and have no idea what ages they might be! They are clearly different ages and I believe one is starting to lay! They look like mixed breeds too so that complicates aging them also!
The rooster tried to, how do say "mount" the second to smallest hen and she was too fast and energetic for him to catch long enough to do his business. Does anyone think these gals are too young for Hank the roo? Or does he have a pretty good handle on who is old enough? We let our australorp raise a hen and he seemed to back off until she was old enough, but she could also fly the coop when she needed space. Thoughts? They are fast girls and I tried to upload them fast and small so please excuse the poor photos! I will work on better ones!
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How old is your rooster? Was he in residence before you got these new girls? How many other hens do you have? If he's not a jerky teenager, and already has a flock of mature girls to keep him busy, he should leave the non laying pullets alone. If he is aggressive to a young gal who is not yet laying, I'd pull him from the run until the pullets are laying. You'll just have to keep an eye on the situation and make judgement calls based on what you are seeing.
 
lazy gardener said:
How old is your rooster? Was he in residence before you got these new girls? How many other hens do you have? If he's not a jerky teenager, and already has a flock of mature girls to keep him busy, he should leave the non laying pullets alone. If he is aggressive to a young gal who is not yet laying, I'd pull him from the run until the pullets are laying. You'll just have to keep an eye on the situation and make judgement calls based on what you are seeing.
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He is about 2 years old. Yes, he has been King of the Coop since our other rooster passed away last year. I had 6 other hens, when I introduced the new 5. I now have 10 hens and 4 chicks on the way. Ok that sounds good! We just lost a hen this week, so I am wondering if that is part of his behavior. Plus, I noticed a new egg yesterday! Someone new appears to be laying! The hen he was attempting to get at yesterday in shown in picture 2 on the left. Those two are the youngest looking. I am adding more pullets to the flock this spring. Would you maybe suggest I get a new cockerel too? I know 14-15 hens is a lot for one rooster.
 
ChxLadyCass said:
Quote: Nope. 14 - 15 hens is not too much for one roo. My roo easily handles 24 hens, and would be looking for more, if he only knew where to find them. IMO, it's fallacy that says that you need a roo to cover 10 hens. Perhaps if you are a breeder, and hatching every egg that gets laid. Fertility has been great in my flock with 1/24.
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Well, he is showing his dominance to the new girls. 14-15 hens will be fine for one 2 year old rooster. In the pictures I looked at the combs are still pretty pale, which for those hens, mean a few weeks off from laying an egg.

They look like a nice addition to me.

Mrs K
 
lazy gardener said:
Nope. 14 - 15 hens is not too much for one roo. My roo easily handles 24 hens, and would be looking for more, if he only knew where to find them. IMO, it's fallacy that says that you need a roo to cover 10 hens. Perhaps if you are a breeder, and hatching every egg that gets laid. Fertility has been great in my flock with 1/24.
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"if he only knew where to find them" - Laughed out loud, that's hilarious! I really keep hank around for the protection he provides. I didn't even realize how bad I needed him until a HUGE barn owl swooped right over my head the other day and he had beckoned all the girls to safety. Coolest thing I'd ever seen him do!! Good deal. I will let him continue to be the king of all the ladies. He and I have to talk about who is more dominant from time to time, but I think he's starting to understand I too am just trying to protect them.
 
Mrs. K said:
Well, he is showing his dominance to the new girls. 14-15 hens will be fine for one 2 year old rooster. In the pictures I looked at the combs are still pretty pale, which for those hens, mean a few weeks off from laying an egg.

They look like a nice addition to me.

Mrs K
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Thank you! They have caused more harm than good so far, but that is my fault for not quarantining them! Lesson learned! I see the smallest ones comb growing! The little cutie! I think the oldest is close to laying, but I didn't get a picture of her. Maybe anywhere from 10 weeks for the youngest to 20 weeks for the oldest, but I am only guessing from looking at lots of pictures.
 
Remember that dominance mounting is not the same as mating mounting.
He may just be dominating them, show them who's boss because they are new to the flock.
He should know they are not ready for mating and leave them alone once he's established his dominance(they must submit).
 

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