Cock thinks his hens are ready to breed!

[BuffloverT]

Hey, I have a young Cock that is living with nine hens, I'm working on moving him and two of his hens into another coop with other chickens. Well, he seems to think that his hens are ready because he constantly breeds them. They have not even started laying eggs yet! Even when I move him he will still breed the hens and the two RIR that are in the coop now. Can he hurt the hens by breeding them before they are ready, and is he even fertile?!?

 

[FeatherTay]

Hey, I have a young Cock that is living with nine hens, I'm working on moving him and two of his hens into another coop with other chickens. Well, he seems to think that his hens are ready because he constantly breeds them. They have not even started laying eggs yet! Even when I move him he will still breed the hens and the two RIR that are in the coop now. Can he hurt the hens by breeding them before they are ready, and is he even fertile?!?

How old is your cockerel and hens?

 

[BuffloverT]

About five months, but he has been breeding them since they were four months.

 

[FeatherTay]

About five months, but he has been breeding them since they were four months.

From my experience, 12 weeks was too early, but 15 weeks he should be able to mate. If the hens are the same age as him, and when they start laying eggs, the eggs should be fertile! I don't believe the roo will be hurting the hens.

 

[BuffloverT]

From my experience, 12 weeks was too early, but 15 weeks he should be able to mate. If the hens are the same age as him, and when they start laying eggs, the eggs should be fertile! I don't believe the roo will be hurting the hens.

Thank you, hope I get some good looking chicks from him.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Can he hurt the hens by breeding them before they are ready,

Not from the mating. He does not have a penis so there is no penetration. The sperm gets transferred by them touching vents.

I'll copy something I wrote years go about mating between adults. It might help you understand why some things happen the way they do and why it is safer than it looks.

Typical mating behavior between mature consenting adults.

The rooster dances for a specific hen. He lowers one wing and sort of circles her. This signals his intent.

The hen squats. This gets her body onto the ground so the rooster’s weight goes into the ground through her entire body and not just her legs. That way she can support a much heavier rooster without hurting her joints.

The rooster hops on and grabs the back of her head. The head grab helps him get in the right position to hit the target and helps him to keep his balance, but its major purpose is to tell the hen to raise her tail out of the way to expose the target. A mating will not be successful if she does not raise her tail and expose the target. The head grab is necessary.

The rooster touches vents and hops off. This may be over in the blink of an eye or it may take a few seconds. But when this is over the rooster’s part is done.

The hen then stands up, fluffs up, and shakes. This fluffy shake gets the sperm into a special container inside the hen near where the egg starts its internal journey through her internal egg making factory.

You do not have adults, you have juveniles. It's usually not like this. Even with adults it's not always like this. Not all roosters dance. Sometimes the hen runs away instead of squatting. The rooster might chase her and force her if she runs or he might not. As long as the hen squats to get his weight into the ground through her body and the hen is not injured it's all OK as far as I'm concerned.

With juveniles the hormones are running wild in the boys. With them the hormones are not telling him to fertilize eggs, they are telling him to dominate the flock. When chickens mate, the one on bottom is accepting the dominance of the one on top, either willingly or by force. With juvenile pullets they are probably not willing (though some are) so it is often by force. When the boys and the girls mature things usually calm down a lot but often watching a flock of pullets and a cockerel go through puberty is not for the faint of heart.

As long as no one is injured I let them go. Since it is violent it is possible injury can occur. Often that injury is during the head grab, the head or comb can get pretty bloody, which is dangerous. Occasionally the claws can rip their backs. It is something to watch for.

and is he even fertile?!?

Probably at 5 months he is fertile

 

[BuffloverT]

Not from the mating. He does not have a penis so there is no penetration. The sperm gets transferred by them touching vents.

I'll copy something I wrote years go about mating between adults. It might help you understand why some things happen the way they do and why it is safer than it looks.

Typical mating behavior between mature consenting adults.

The rooster dances for a specific hen. He lowers one wing and sort of circles her. This signals his intent.

The hen squats. This gets her body onto the ground so the rooster’s weight goes into the ground through her entire body and not just her legs. That way she can support a much heavier rooster without hurting her joints.

The rooster hops on and grabs the back of her head. The head grab helps him get in the right position to hit the target and helps him to keep his balance, but its major purpose is to tell the hen to raise her tail out of the way to expose the target. A mating will not be successful if she does not raise her tail and expose the target. The head grab is necessary.

The rooster touches vents and hops off. This may be over in the blink of an eye or it may take a few seconds. But when this is over the rooster’s part is done.

The hen then stands up, fluffs up, and shakes. This fluffy shake gets the sperm into a special container inside the hen near where the egg starts its internal journey through her internal egg making factory.

You do not have adults, you have juveniles. It's usually not like this. Even with adults it's not always like this. Not all roosters dance. Sometimes the hen runs away instead of squatting. The rooster might chase her and force her if she runs or he might not. As long as the hen squats to get his weight into the ground through her body and the hen is not injured it's all OK as far as I'm concerned.

With juveniles the hormones are running wild in the boys. With them the hormones are not telling him to fertilize eggs, they are telling him to dominate the flock. When chickens mate, the one on bottom is accepting the dominance of the one on top, either willingly or by force. With juvenile pullets they are probably not willing (though some are) so it is often by force. When the boys and the girls mature things usually calm down a lot but often watching a flock of pullets and a cockerel go through puberty is not for the faint of heart.

As long as no one is injured I let them go. Since it is violent it is possible injury can occur. Often that injury is during the head grab, the head or comb can get pretty bloody, which is dangerous. Occasionally the claws can rip their backs. It is something to watch for.


Probably at 5 months he is fertile

Thank you so much! I did not know all of that stuff.

 

[Mrs. K]

I am not a believer in separating birds, I almost NEVER do it. This is one exception that I would strongly consider it. A rooster chick growing up in a flock mate group, out grows the pullets and sexually matures much sooner than they do. He often times becomes pretty aggressive because he is so much bigger.

In a multi-generational flock, there will be older hens that won't tolerate it, and thump some manners into him, but even then he can make the pullets life miserable.

In a flock, without mature hens, I would separate him all by himself for 2-3 more months, he won't die of loneliness. As the spring and he get a bit older, the hormones will slow, and the pullets will begin to lay, and that is when I would put him back.

Mrs K

 

[BuffloverT]

I am not a believer in separating birds, I almost NEVER do it. This is one exception that I would strongly consider it. A rooster chick growing up in a flock mate group, out grows the pullets and sexually matures much sooner than they do. He often times becomes pretty aggressive because he is so much bigger.

In a multi-generational flock, there will be older hens that won't tolerate it, and thump some manners into him, but even then he can make the pullets life miserable.

In a flock, without mature hens, I would separate him all by himself for 2-3 more months, he won't die of loneliness. As the spring and he get a bit older, the hormones will slow, and the pullets will begin to lay, and that is when I would put him back.

Mrs K

Thank for the advice!