Can a rooster mate only one hen?

[Girly White Silkie]

I guess what you're asking is if the eggs will be fertile. He'll easily fertilize the eggs from 3 hens and many more.
One mating of one rooster and one hen will provide fertile eggs from that same hen for 2 or 3 weeks before another mating is necessary.

I was thinking to have chicks.

 

[Girly White Silkie]

They will lay fertile eggs, but that doesn't mean the hens will go broody and hatch them. That's up to the hormones of the individual hens. Whether the rooster is around and breeding them has nothing to do with it. Some breeds are very broody, other breeds have had it mostly bred out. Some individuals of broody-prone breeds will never sit on eggs, and some individuals that are reputed to never be broody at all will, in fact try to mother anything and everything. It's up to the individual hens. If you want chicks on your schedule, get an incubator.

Are the Silkies broody?

 

[sbhkma]

Silkies do tend to go broody but there is never a guarantee any of your birds will. Most birds are bred to NOT go broody, because they stop laying eggs. If you want to raise chicks and do it right, do some research on here and elsewhere to educate yourself. Most of the questions you are asking are things addressed here multiple times. You may also want to pick up the book "Storey's Guide To Raising Chickens" by Gail Damerow. A wealth of information in that book.

 

[lazy gardener]

Can he also mate with 3 hens and will the hens have chicks?

Do you have parental permission to expand your flock? Do you have the room to do so without crowding them? Recommendation for space for a large fowl is 4 sq. ft. in the coop and 10 sq. ft. in the run per bird. Silkies are smaller, so you could get away with 3 s.f. in coop, and perhaps 8 s.f. in run if you have a rooster, and intend to have chicks. If you crowd your birds, and your hens don't have room to safely get away from your rooster, you are going to have a coop full of terrorized hens, perhaps some bloody hens.

And, do you have a plan for any chicks you produce? The cockerels (male chicks) will fight with each other, and they will form hoodlum fluffy gangs who will run around terrorizing the pullets (females less than a year old) and ganging up on them. Can you be comfortable with culling any chicks that are hatched with birth defects or failure to thrive? Silkies are prone to neurologic birth defects b/c of their vaulted skull. You will need to familiarize yourself with how to choose good breeders to prevent these issues.

 

[Girly White Silkie]

Silkies do tend to go broody but there is never a guarantee any of your birds will. Most birds are bred to NOT go broody, because they stop laying eggs. If you want to raise chicks and do it right, do some research on here and elsewhere to educate yourself. Most of the questions you are asking are things addressed here multiple times. You may also want to pick up the book "Store's Guide To Raising Chickens" by Gail Damerow. A wealth of information in that book.

I will do the research.

 

[Girly White Silkie]

Do you have parental permission to expand your flock? Do you have the room to do so without crowding them? Recommendation for space for a large fowl is 4 sq. ft. in the coop and 10 sq. ft. in the run per bird. Silkies are smaller, so you could get away with 3 s.f. in coop, and perhaps 8 s.f. in run if you have a rooster, and intend to have chicks. If you crowd your birds, and your hens don't have room to safely get away from your rooster, you are going to have a coop full of terrorized hens, perhaps some bloody hens.

And, do you have a plan for any chicks you produce? The cockerels (male chicks) will fight with each other, and they will form hoodlum fluffy gangs who will run around terrorizing the pullets (females less than a year old) and ganging up on them. Can you be comfortable with culling any chicks that are hatched with birth defects or failure to thrive? Silkies are prone to neurologic birth defects b/c of their vaulted skull. You will need to familiarize yourself with how to choose good breeders to prevent these issues.

I do have parental permission.

 

[lilmillefleur]

Your best bet is that you should have a gentle rooster with your three hens plus a few silkies for hatching and raising the babies. That seems like a good solution to me.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

What breeds are your 4 birds?

 

[Girly White Silkie]

Your best bet is that you should have a gentle rooster with your three hens plus a few silkies for hatching and raising the babies. That seems like a good solution to me.

Thanks!

 

[Girly White Silkie]

What breeds are your 4 birds?

My future hens and rooster are Silkies.