Choosy roo ...

[Rennie]

The rooster i have currently lives with 2 Orpington girls who were all hatched at the same time, They are about 5 months old and not laying yet .. Next door to them I have to wyandotte bantam hens, not sure on age but laying ..They are separated because the 2 orps dont seem to like them and fight all the time ..

The reason my title says choosy roo is this ... The rooster shows no signs of wanting to mate with the orps ..but when i let him out with the wyandottes he is constantly doing his "cockerel dance" ..
Could this be because the wyandottes are older and laying already and he knows this ..or is it because he sees the orps as sisters and wont breed with them . I realy want him to mate with both sets of girls if possible.. he is just being stubborn ..

My brother seems to think that he is treading the orps already because of the amount of loose feathers in the coop ..im not so sure ive never seen him "dance" around them.

......



On a side note ... at what age should the orps start laying ..Is there anything i can do to start them off . ..

 

[Ridgerunner]

The rooster shows no signs of wanting to mate with the orps ..but when i let him out with the wyandottes he is constantly doing his "cockerel dance" .. Could this be because the wyandottes are older and laying already and he knows this ..or is it because he sees the orps as sisters and wont breed with them . I realy want him to mate with both sets of girls if possible..

Roosters do not live in platonic relationships with their sisters. All they see is male-female. When the pullets mature, he will mate with them. My guess is that he already is trying, but they may be resisting him if they are not mature enough.

On a side note ... at what age should the orps start laying ..Is there anything i can do to start them off .

I know we all want that first egg. I did to, but I advise patience. If they have been getting adequate nutrition, they will start to lay when their body is mature enough for them to lay. If they start laying before their body is mature enough, you increase your risk of them getting egg bound or prolapsed, you are more likely to get those strange eggs since their internal equipment is not working right, and they will lay better over the season if they don't start too young. Many people like those strange eggs, but I see the double-yolkers as a great way for a young pullet to hurt herself trying to lay it or a soft-shelled egg that breaks a great way for them to learn to become egg eaters.

With all that said, at 5 months yours should be old enough and they could start at any time or it could still be a while. My first one started at 18 weeks and by the time they were 5 months old, I had 3 out of 23 laying. A couple of those were Buff Orps. That means at 5 months, I had 20 out of 23 not laying. When they start depends on the individual.

 

[Rennie]

Thanks for the input .. I am patient with them .. I just didnt know if they were slow starters or something like that .. Ill just keep feeding them what i do and wait and hope for the best ...


Any thoughts on the first part of the post ... why is my roo so choosy ? lol

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
He's choosy because as Ridge said, they orps aren't laying yet. Roosters know these things and he's not going to waste his time on pullets that can't make him a father.

 

[Rennie]

I did sort of think that ... Thanks for clearing it up though

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