mating chickens

I have 8 hens and a rooster. My flock has always been super close, sticking together and keeping a peaceful order. The rooster has favored the Silver Laced Wyandottes the most. In recent weeks, we have been noticing INTENSE mating behavior with one of the Wyandottes. He will mate her again...

Hen Breed: Black Australorp Age: 23 weeks Rooster Breed: N/A Age: 23 weeks They both mated today (I know this because I've looked and done research especially since they are both hitting maturity) I have a few questions about this however 1. Is there any way to make her attracted to a nesting...

I am working on a hobby experiment, breeding and setting a line. I have a trio of my own crossing who’s description would be a thread in itself so thats as far as ill go into that. I have a newly built “poultry palace” that has two, fly pens that are 4’widex6’longx7’tall, each having access to...

Hello- I have a flock of all different breeds, I would like to separate my silkie hens and roosters to hatch silkie eggs. Since the hen has the potential of laying mixed breed eggs at this moment, how long should I wait to know that she will certainly lay only silkie eggs? Hope it makes sense...

So i have three hens and two female ducks. Ever since i got my two ducks (around 3 months ago) they’ve tried to mate. We know for a fact that they’re both female and we figured they were doing it for domination but they never stopped. Today they were swimming in their pond and one persistently...

soo.. my hens have bald spots on their back i am assuming its from the rooster mounting them ... i am making a separate area for the girls from the rooster , im new to having chikens . now i hear online there is mounting pads and ive seen them on amazon , but most ppl on youtube talk about them...

I have 5 silkies, 3 girls and 2 boys. I raised then from chicks and they're nearly a year old. They lived together until I separated boys from girls 6 weeks ago, because I thought the feather loss in the littlest girl (named Shadow) was from overmating. They seemed to be happy together though...

I am new to chickens & I started a small flock of 4 bantam hens back in October. Right after Christmas, one turned out to be a roo. In the few weeks he’s come of age, he’s over mated one of my hens to the point that only her down feathers are left over one of her wings. He is non-aggressive and...

Hi! I have 2 breeds of chickens: Lavender Orpingtons and Black Marans. They all commingle together as a big family. Each of the breeds have a rooster so I have 2 roosters total. I'd like to know how long do I need to isolate one breed to make sure that the fertile eggs are of that specific...

Hello chicken enthusiasts! Back in April, I was only able to get two barred rock (due to some specific circumstances). I had them in the run for a few weeks, so that they would know that it was their home and such. My older flock, free ranges and would come and go from the run as they would...

My flock is 17 weeks and 1 day and with the exception of my rooster that was gifted to me that’s for sure over a year. I have 2 rhode island reds, 2 light brahmas, and two prairie bluebell easter eggers. I have seen absolutely none of the girls squat or lay eggs but for the last few days I’ve...

I have 4 SLW pullets and one SLW rooster that are 3 1/2 months only. I also have a big French Coco Maran rooster and two hens, that are about a year old. I have been keeping them apart but i thought i would try introducing them, the hens did fine with the young ones, you average pecking order...

Hi! We are quite new at chicken keeping so just had a question about our rooster. When we got our exchequer leghorn rooster and hen they were both supposed to be hens but turned out one was a roo ha. He is maturing now as well as the hens are however he has recently started pulling their...

I was wondering what you guys thinking on dealing with aggressive roosters? I have three 15 week old Anconas that are in a large pen by themselves, with no pullets. They aren’t aggressive to me but I tried putting my 15 week old Cochin pullet with them for a minute and they pecked are her and I...

So I know that roosters can overmate the ladies when their are not enough ladies....but what do you do when you have enough hens and only one of them is getting beat up? I have a Barred Rock Roo who will be a year old in May I think, and I have 19 hens of various ages and breeds. He seems to...

Hi all! So I recently got a 5 month old Rhode Island Red mix rooster named Harvey from a rescue. He’s a very sweet rooster. He’s nice with people and the hens and is not aggressive. I introduced him to the hens yesterday and they largely ignored him but he tried his best to win them over. Today...

I have a Roo who is 2 now. Last spring he only had 7 hens & I ended up having to buy them all saddles. About 7 months ago I got him 5 more hens hoping that would help on my hens being over mated and loosing all of there saddle feathers & head feathers. Well it has not sadly. His spurs have come...

Hey all! I have two hens, and one very docile Americana/Leghorn mix Rooster. He was placed with the adult hens when he was fairly young but he is coming up on a year. He does his dipped wing dance to my Barred Rock Hen and she either ignores him, chases him off, or dips her wing and does a...

Just a quick question, do hens actively seeking out the roos for mating? Or is it just the roos that get in the mood. I've never noticed my hens asking for love. Just curious.

I've been raising hens for three years now and have gotten to the point of wanting to add a rooster to the flock to try and produce chicks of my own. I'm planning on keeping the new rooster in a separate enclosure directly next to the girls so they get acquainted. Question is, after that, what...