Help Mating Issue

[Boom Boom Chick]

My Phil is a 1 year old leghorn mixed breed rooster. He mated with my 4 month Clara who has been identified as a young rooster on my other thread "Hen or Rooster". What is ya'll opinion on this matter?

Here is Phil

And here is Clara

 

[keesmom]

Clara is a cockerel. Mounting another bird isn't always about mating. It is also done as a way to assert dominance.

 

[Boom Boom Chick]

Ok that a little disturbing to hear because Phil has been dancing alot this past month for Clara. Such as on the roost in the coop he dances while standing next to her, outside when they are free ranging, and when they are seperated by the run fencing. I just don't know what to make of this. Clara' s comb and wattles turn pale pink when Phi is around and bright pink when not. Clara ahow bothe signs of hen and rooster.

 

[rIrs roost]

Ok that a little disturbing to hear because Phil has been dancing alot this past month for Clara. Such as on the roost in the coop he dances while standing next to her, outside when they are free ranging, and when they are seperated by the run fencing. I just don't know what to make of this. Clara' s comb and wattles turn pale pink when Phi is around and bright pink when not. Clara ahow bothe signs of hen and rooster.

you need to talk to granny hatchet. She had a gay roo.

 

[donrae]

How many hens are available to Phil?

 

[Boom Boom Chick]

3

 

[enola]

I think he is dominating him. Not breeding him.

If you separate them, I think all of your chivken's will be happier.....

 

[Ridgerunner]

Looking at those saddle and hackle feathers there is no doubt Clara is a Clarence. There are other signs too but those saddle and hackle feathers leave no doubt. Those are really well developed for four months. Sorry.

The mating behavior is often about dominance. The one on bottom is accepting the dominance of the one on top, either willingly or by force. I’ve had a dominant hen in a flock with no dominant rooster mate with pullets to show she was boss. She ever touched vents. When my immature cockerel grew up and became a dominant rooster that behavior stopped.

If the behavior is non-violent I don’t see a problem, at least now. While that behavior doesn’t happen a lot it does happen. Have you checked your eggs to see if they are fertile? That will tell you if your rooster is doing his job with the hens or not.

If Clara is resisting I’d expect it to be more of running away than fighting at this age. The risk is that Clara will at some point mature enough to challenge Phil as head rooster. You never know how something like that will turn out. Whether he knows it or not consciously, that’s what Phil is trying to avoid by dominating Clara. It’s possible Phil will always dominate Clara (though not necessarily always mate with him) and it will remain peaceful, but it is also possible and more likely that at some point Clara will resist and they have a pretty good fight.

 

[Boom Boom Chick]

I put them all together at night in one coop and seperate phil and clara during the day now. We have 2 areas for both to have enough space.