Chicken mating thread !!!

[TeaChick]

Question:
I have a Bantam Cochin who I think has started laying, but I'm not sure.
I checked her vent in Nov/Dec, and it was a tight dry slit; I checked in January and it was "open" and moist. Major difference, and looks like she's laying.
I just saw my sr roo mate her; she squatted and put her tail up for him and he put his tail down, etc. I'm sure they mated.
Here's my question:
Does laying lead to mating or does mating lead to laying?

I'm asking b/c I think she's been laying in the woods (or under the shed or in the bush in the front yard, etc) all this time. Being a Cochin, it's more than likely she'll go broody (eventually). I don't want her to go broody in the woods and get eaten, so I've kept her in the juvenile pen with the chicks (they're beginning to warm up to each other a little after being in there together for two days). Anyway, if mating leads to laying, then she might not be laying and I should let my rooster mate with her, right?
But if laying leads to mating, then she's already been laying and I've got to protect her by getting her used to laying where I want her to, right?

Please help.

 

[centrarchid]

Hens usually solicit male only while in lay or about to start. They will still raise their tail if covered by an aggressive rooster. Mating is not required to stimulate egg production.

 

[TeaChick]

Hens usually solicit male only while in lay or about to start. They will still raise their tail if covered by an aggressive rooster. Mating is not required to stimulate egg production.

Okay. Thank you! =)

 

[Peep-Chicken]

When I had roosters, one was such a gentle men. Always dancing and never being too mean. Err, I miss my roosters! I wish I could keep them.

 

[TeaChick]

When I had roosters, one was such a gentle men. Always dancing and never being too mean. Err, I miss my roosters! I wish I could keep them.

A good rooster can be hard to find.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The chicken mating ritual

The rooster dances – this shows his interest.

The hen squats – this gets her body on the ground so the weight of the rooster goes through her body, not just her legs. This way the rooster can be quite a bit larger than the hen without his weight injuring her legs.

The rooster hops on and grabs the back of her head. This head grab not only helps him get lined up right to hit the target and helps his balance, it is the signal for the hen to raise her tail out of the way. That opens up the target.

The rooster touched vents and hops off. His part is done.

The hen stands, fluffs up, and shakes. This fluffy shake moves the sperm to a specific container in the area where the egg starts its journey through the hen’s internal egg factory.

There can be a lot of variations to this. Some roosters don’t dance but just grab and hop on. That’s the sign of an immature rooster not confident in himself or a rooster that has not won the respect of the hens. An adolescent will normally mature out of this phase but if a rooster over a year old is still not dancing, it’s not a good sign that he will ever mature.

A lot of time the hen runs away instead of squatting. The rooster may then just ignore the hen but sometime he will chase her. She might squat as soon as he starts chasing or she may really trying to get away. As long as she winds up squatting and he does not physically damage her, it is OK.

The mating ritual is not always just about sex. It can also be about dominance. The one on bottom accepts the dominance of the one on top, either willingly or by force. I haven’t seen it myself but some people report seeing a rooster mount another rooster. I have seen a hen mount a pullet, including touching vents, in a flock without a mature dominant rooster to show her dominance.

Some hens will squat for anything in spurs, but many mature hens expect a rooster to fulfill his flock responsibilities before they accept him as a mate. He should dance for them, treat them to food, break up fights and keep peace in his flock, and keep a watch out for predators. If he doesn’t fulfill the duties of a flock master, they aren’t likely to squat for him.

Young adolescent cockerels have hormones running wild. They want to mate and be dominant. Many a young cockerel has literally lost his head because those hormones were out of control. Immature pullets don’t help either. Cockerels often mature earlier than pullets, so the pullets don’t always understand what is going on. They need to mature enough to do their part too before things settle down. If you can get through that adolescent phase, things normally settle down, but some cockerels and some pullets never mature enough to take their proper place in chicken society.

One last thing. For a rooster to fulfill his duties as flock master, he has to be dominant. How can he break up fights if they turn around and beat the crap out of him? What good does it do to give a warning if no one pays any attention to him? It’s his job to earn that dominance but it is up to the hens to accept that dominance if he earns it. Some roosters never earn it and some hens never give it.

 

[Peep-Chicken]

A good rooster can be hard to find.

Defiantly. Although we are getting some of his pullets in the spring! e

The chicken mating ritual

The rooster dances – this shows his interest.

The hen squats – this gets her body on the ground so the weight of the rooster goes through her body, not just her legs. This way the rooster can be quite a bit larger than the hen without his weight injuring her legs.

The rooster hops on and grabs the back of her head. This head grab not only helps him get lined up right to hit the target and helps his balance, it is the signal for the hen to raise her tail out of the way. That opens up the target.

The rooster touched vents and hops off. His part is done.

The hen stands, fluffs up, and shakes. This fluffy shake moves the sperm to a specific container in the area where the egg starts its journey through the hen’s internal egg factory.

There can be a lot of variations to this. Some roosters don’t dance but just grab and hop on. That’s the sign of an immature rooster not confident in himself or a rooster that has not won the respect of the hens. An adolescent will normally mature out of this phase but if a rooster over a year old is still not dancing, it’s not a good sign that he will ever mature.

A lot of time the hen runs away instead of squatting. The rooster may then just ignore the hen but sometime he will chase her. She might squat as soon as he starts chasing or she may really trying to get away. As long as she winds up squatting and he does not physically damage her, it is OK.

The mating ritual is not always just about sex. It can also be about dominance. The one on bottom accepts the dominance of the one on top, either willingly or by force. I haven’t seen it myself but some people report seeing a rooster mount another rooster. I have seen a hen mount a pullet, including touching vents, in a flock without a mature dominant rooster to show her dominance.

Some hens will squat for anything in spurs, but many mature hens expect a rooster to fulfill his flock responsibilities before they accept him as a mate. He should dance for them, treat them to food, break up fights and keep peace in his flock, and keep a watch out for predators. If he doesn’t fulfill the duties of a flock master, they aren’t likely to squat for him.

Young adolescent cockerels have hormones running wild. They want to mate and be dominant. Many a young cockerel has literally lost his head because those hormones were out of control. Immature pullets don’t help either. Cockerels often mature earlier than pullets, so the pullets don’t always understand what is going on. They need to mature enough to do their part too before things settle down. If you can get through that adolescent phase, things normally settle down, but some cockerels and some pullets never mature enough to take their proper place in chicken society.

One last thing. For a rooster to fulfill his duties as flock master, he has to be dominant. How can he break up fights if they turn around and beat the crap out of him? What good does it do to give a warning if no one pays any attention to him? It’s his job to earn that dominance but it is up to the hens to accept that dominance if he earns it. Some roosters never earn it and some hens never give it.

Well said.

 

[TeaChick]

The chicken mating ritual

The rooster dances – this shows his interest.

The hen squats – this gets her body on the ground so the weight of the rooster goes through her body, not just her legs. This way the rooster can be quite a bit larger than the hen without his weight injuring her legs.

The rooster hops on and grabs the back of her head. This head grab not only helps him get lined up right to hit the target and helps his balance, it is the signal for the hen to raise her tail out of the way. That opens up the target.

The rooster touched vents and hops off. His part is done.

The hen stands, fluffs up, and shakes. This fluffy shake moves the sperm to a specific container in the area where the egg starts its journey through the hen’s internal egg factory.

There can be a lot of variations to this. Some roosters don’t dance but just grab and hop on. That’s the sign of an immature rooster not confident in himself or a rooster that has not won the respect of the hens. An adolescent will normally mature out of this phase but if a rooster over a year old is still not dancing, it’s not a good sign that he will ever mature.

A lot of time the hen runs away instead of squatting. The rooster may then just ignore the hen but sometime he will chase her. She might squat as soon as he starts chasing or she may really trying to get away. As long as she winds up squatting and he does not physically damage her, it is OK.

The mating ritual is not always just about sex. It can also be about dominance. The one on bottom accepts the dominance of the one on top, either willingly or by force. I haven’t seen it myself but some people report seeing a rooster mount another rooster. I have seen a hen mount a pullet, including touching vents, in a flock without a mature dominant rooster to show her dominance.

Some hens will squat for anything in spurs, but many mature hens expect a rooster to fulfill his flock responsibilities before they accept him as a mate. He should dance for them, treat them to food, break up fights and keep peace in his flock, and keep a watch out for predators. If he doesn’t fulfill the duties of a flock master, they aren’t likely to squat for him.

Young adolescent cockerels have hormones running wild. They want to mate and be dominant. Many a young cockerel has literally lost his head because those hormones were out of control. Immature pullets don’t help either. Cockerels often mature earlier than pullets, so the pullets don’t always understand what is going on. They need to mature enough to do their part too before things settle down. If you can get through that adolescent phase, things normally settle down, but some cockerels and some pullets never mature enough to take their proper place in chicken society.

One last thing. For a rooster to fulfill his duties as flock master, he has to be dominant. How can he break up fights if they turn around and beat the crap out of him? What good does it do to give a warning if no one pays any attention to him? It’s his job to earn that dominance but it is up to the hens to accept that dominance if he earns it. Some roosters never earn it and some hens never give it.

Thank you very much for posting this! IMO, this should be edited into the first post. Then someone who has a question can read this and then ask it if their situation calls for other information, advice, etc.

 

[mumofsix]

You said anything ! I laughed so hard I cried ... Today My Grandmother and Mom came to visit . Mom comes in the house and says " Go do something with those Chickens". I ask Mom what is wrong with Them? Her reply was(Mom had 10 Kids ) " Those Chickens are doing the nite stuff in front of My Mother". My chickens were born 3/13/14 . Well I went out there and sure enough that was going on . Is this normal (teenage hormones) or was this a special show for Granny and Mom? The Roo hasn't started Crowing . Both Mom and Granny said "I have never seen anything like That in all My born days". LOL P.S. I plan to show Both of Them this .

 

[Spangled]

Some where out there is the article that discusses how a hen can actually decide if she wants to accept the deposit by the rooster. She can eject it if she desires. For instance, she has judged that rooster as not of the highest quality with which to preserve her genetics, she ejects his deposit, and she waits for a genetically better rooster to mate with her.

I just read earlier today, that the hens with the largest combs are the most attractive to the roosters and get mated with most often. I didn't read all of the article so I didn't see if it discussed the differences between combs (cushion, pea, rose, straight, etc.).

I have had two roosters protecting a flock much of the time (second one is backup). The dominant rooster does purposely give the less dominant rooster opportunities to mate with the hens. I've seen it happen and read about the system.