Chicken mating thread !!!

[Ridgerunner]

 
Usually it would be very apparent by 5 months (more like 5-6 weeks) if you have any cockerels or not just by comb and wattle development.
Cockerels mature faster than pullets and would have been trying to mate them before they started to lay.

Well, now I am confused because i was sure that I would see a lot more difference by this time than I am. I am not seeing much if any difference at 5 months between any of my Australorps to distinguish the boys from the girls. I must be one of the few people on the site that I see is actually hoping to have some roosters... and if the hatchery screwed up and gave me 5 pullets instead of cockerels, that would be very, very rare indeed, too.

Could you post a few photos of some you think are boys and some that you are pretty sure are girls. What we need are shots of the head showing comb and wattles. A view showing general posture, legs, and tail can be very helpful. Five months may be too early for saddle and hackle feathers to be evident but eventually the boys saddle and hackle feathers will be longer and pointed while the girl’s will be shorter and rounded.

By this age the cockerels should be noticeably larger too.

I once got seven pullets on a straight run order of six chicks from Cackle. Even the packing peanut was a pullet. I wonder if the hatchery made a mistake with the order and sent all pullets. The odds of getting seven pullets straight run are less than 1 in a 100. I'd have been happy with two pullets and the rest cockerels. I was disappointed none were cockerels so you are not alone ion wanting a male. Luckily a few of the Speckled Sussex were cockerels so I had a rooster anyway.

 

[TeaChick]

Hi, i just like to say i got 2 black australorps at easter time,2014 one was a rooster he is twice her size and mateing with other hens.

 

[Highcotton]

Hi, i just like to say i got 2 black australorps at easter time,2014 one was a rooster he is twice her size and mateing with other hens.

Welcome to BYC. The Australorps are my favorite chickens.

 

[Angie16hearts]

I have a pullet that's 26 weeks and not laying or squating . I watched my Roo mate with her today . He has 10 ladies. He mates with all of them except the two youngest none layers. Or at least that's what I thought tell today. Is it normal for a Roo to mate with a non layer?

 

[aart]

I have a pullet that's 26 weeks and not laying or squating . I watched my Roo mate with her today . He has 10 ladies. He mates with all of them except the two youngest none layers. Or at least that's what I thought tell today. Is it normal for a Roo to mate with a non layer?

Are you positive she's not laying?? She may be close or hiding eggs.

 

[Angie16hearts]

Are you positive she's not laying??  She may be close or hiding eggs.

Her face is extremely red!! But I have never seen her in the nesting box or even showing intrest in it. She's my least tame pullet I can barely get a picture of her. I tried a few times yesterday to see if she would squat and that's a big no she runs. I'm not totally positive cause my flock is so mixed. I have 3 RIR that are all laying, a rock but her egg is round . So she is easy to figure out 1 white layer a cream layer and 2 blue layers. I have sen all the other ladies in box. They stay in a big coop during the day but no hiding spaces. They free range at the end of day. Believe me it's been driving me crazy! But I really don't believe she's laying yet. I have 1 pullet at 16 weeks. She is the lowest on totom pole and she is squatting for me but my Roo won't mate with her yet. So I'm confused. I'm not sure if this helps bit she is a GLW and my 16 week old is a Australorp

 

[ella&clara]

All I can share is that introducing a rooster to your flock is a great way to bring up the idea of the birds and the bees to your children. At first, my 5 yo said, "I think she's cold and he's keeping her warm (although it was 90 degrees outside)" and so we went with that. Then my 8 yo decided he was hurting her and made motions to break it up, and I knew I needed to make it clear that we do not interrupt the rooster. So I told her he was giving the boy part to the girl part to make the chicks--they already knew that we couldn't have chicks until we had a rooster. That led to "How to people do it?" so I had to explain that too...in 8 year old terms. But I am thankful I didn't have to have THE TALK one day, I am glad it came about as a part of normal conversation. My 8 yo asks questions and questions about everything.

 

[JCavallaro40]

This thread has been so helpful to me. I am now realizing, (at 32 weeks), that I have 7 roos and 8 girls in my flock. (I also have 4 four month old pullets that are integrating but still separated.) 4 of the boys haven't shown any signs of mating or crowing and are really suppressing the roo factor. Our coop/run can hold up to 25-30 since we free range a lot. I also have 9 chicks in waitng but have no clue yet what their sex are. Like mentioned way up above, I'm obviously having the gang rape issues. For the most part, all of them get along great. My top roo is AWESOME! He does have his favorite ladies, the ones laying eggs, that he provides excellent protection for. The others fall under the flock protection. He's such a gentleman and really tries to give the other roos opportunities but won't allow them to play rough. I think, whatever that's worth, that it's probably stressful for him since the ladies only reluctantly lay down for the other roos and when they do, they other 2 outed roos want to join in. My question is, how many roos do I ABSOLUTELY have to rehome? I am trying to add ladies but at 7 roos? I don't think I currently have to the room. I mean, how many girls would one have for 7 roos? And how much room?

 

[Peep-Chicken]

This thread has been so helpful to me. I am now realizing, (at 32 weeks), that I have 7 roos and 8 girls in my flock. (I also have 4 four month old pullets that are integrating but still separated.) 4 of the boys haven't shown any signs of mating or crowing and are really suppressing the roo factor. Our coop/run can hold up to 25-30 since we free range a lot. I also have 9 chicks in waitng but have no clue yet what their sex are. Like mentioned way up above, I'm obviously having the gang rape issues. For the most part, all of them get along great. My top roo is AWESOME! He does have his favorite ladies, the ones laying eggs, that he provides excellent protection for. The others fall under the flock protection. He's such a gentleman and really tries to give the other roos opportunities but won't allow them to play rough. I think, whatever that's worth, that it's probably stressful for him since the ladies only reluctantly lay down for the other roos and when they do, they other 2 outed roos want to join in. My question is, how many roos do I ABSOLUTELY have to rehome? I am trying to add ladies but at 7 roos? I don't think I currently have to the room. I mean, how many girls would one have for 7 roos? And how much room?

I go by 8 hens per rooster. So you would need a lot more hens. So it depends how many definite girls you have currently to decide how many roos to keep.

Good luck.

 

[JCavallaro40]

I have 8 definite girls with 4 that will be added as they are currently 4 and 5 mos old. That means only 1 roo with maybe a backup but I need 4 more DEFINITE girls. Thank you so much.

p.s. Want some sweet roosters? he he