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I put one of my cockerels, 10 months old, in with 3 pullets a couple of days ago. At least 2 of the pullets are laying. I haven't seen any breeding interest on the part of the male yet, is this usual?
Someone had posted recently that their male had been breeding, younger than mine, so I thought he was old enough. I have my extra males in 4'x4' "male cages" and feel pretty sorry for them being cooped up in such a small space, they should be able to get more exercise. That is part of the reason I moved him to the pullet's pen, which is around 10'x18'. Plus I have deposits for some chicks....I hope those people don't get too impatientMy 3rd generation is now just going into the breeding pens and none of them have been very successful before they were a close to a year old. I have gotten a few that were fertile by younger cockerels, but don't expect good fertility before a year. These are very slow to mature in every way. I think it slowed their maturity down somewhat by putting them in the breeding pen too early too.....stan
Someone had posted recently that their male had been breeding, younger than mine, so I thought he was old enough. I have my extra males in 4'x4' "male cages" and feel pretty sorry for them being cooped up in such a small space, they should be able to get more exercise. That is part of the reason I moved him to the pullet's pen, which is around 10'x18'. Plus I have deposits for some chicks....I hope those people don't get too impatientI have not seen much change in body structure/size now with the 3 cockerels I have, but then it is hard to notice small changes when you see them every day.
- Location: Northern CA
- Joined: 1/2012
- Posts: 85
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My GSBR are calmer birds that I can walk amongst, but do not want to be picked up. They will eat scratch from my hand. The lone cockerel is crowing and mating since about 6-7 months, and at almost 8 months has not been aggressive. (Overall he's the quietest guy I've ever kept.) I've made no attempt to make pets of them. Unlike some of my chickens that run to the coop when I toss food in the pen, the Rocks run to it