Do roosters have seasonal drive?

[yyz0yyz0]

Hi all.
I have a roo that we hatched last summer, he was born on July 1st. Come last fall he was starting to mount the hens and assume his roll as the Man of the flock(calling for treats, happy feet dance after an egg laid, etc etc).

Since winter arrived I have not seen him mount any hens in months and I'm getting worried. I'd like to hatch some of our eggs this spring but if the rooster is not doing his part I'll have to buy hatching eggs to raise.

So is the sex drive of a rooster seasonal, ie will he start to mount the hens again as the weather warms and the days become longer?

 

[chicklover 1998]

you may or may not be seeing him mount the girls but their drive does tend to go down because nature tells them now isn't exactly the right time to raise chicks mine still do mount my hens but not as much. As the days lengthen you will see more mounting behavior.

 

[szczur]

Yes, according to what I've read he should kick into gear around the end of feb/beginning of march. My cockerel Polish is doing the same thing, he mounted a lot during the fall and then lost interest as it became cold. I thought he was ill or something so I looked it up.

 

[yyz0yyz0]

Good to know, thanks for the responses.

His father had fertility issues, we put 12 under a broody and only one hatched and of course it was a Roo. So we're keeping our fingers crossed this year to see if the son is any better than the father.