I know that this sounds extremely stupid, but here goes. How old is a roo when he figures out what to do other than crow??? DH thinks that he knows what to do but he is only 12 weeks old. What do you all say???
When he is about 4.5 to 5 months old and you will see his dances and became very noisy trying to tell the hens he found some food.
I have a week old ameraucana roo chick that tried to mount one of his clutch mates today. At least I hope its a roo! Chicks might not have figured out whatʻs its for until 6 weeks or so, but they are programed for that activity from birth.
OK I guess that DH was right and I am wrong, but ssshhhh don't tell him. I also think that I have a broody hen. The last few days she has been sitting on her and the others eggs. We finally had to lift her off yesterday and today to gather eggs. How long does it take if the roo is doing his job to get fertile eggs? I really am a newbie at this all yet so I have many questions yet???
Most likely, if he's crowing, he also has figured out how to breed the hens. Especially if he also has the super shiny feathers on his neck and saddles(back). The wing stomping dance is also a very good sign as someone said. If you have seen the rooster seem to take an interest in pecking or even grabbing other birds by the head or neck, that's usually the very beginnings of a roo starting to get sexually mature enough to have some fertility. If the hen is still sitting on eggs, mark the eggs so you know which ones are 'old' or 'fresh'.. and you can use this to test out the rooster's fertility.. if there are no other roosters, you can mark a few eggs (better go with 4 at least, and use the very lightest eggs- whites or very pale tans) and wait a week then candle the eggs. If the rooster is fertile and has bred the hens, you will see the beginnings of an embryo in the eggs.
You got your answer but I wanted to mention that there are no stupid questions here. Everyone was just starting out at one point or another and that is what it place is for.
We just put the roo and his two hatch-mates in the big coop with the layers on Tuesday night since the weather was getting bad here. The hatch-mates are really stand-offish yet but the little roo just goes around like he is the king of the world. If anyone picks on the two, He wll be right there to defend them. It is really cute. The only problem with the hen wanting to set on the eggs, is that she is in the box that EVERYONE wants to use and I think that at least one of the hens will just get in there with her and lay her egg and leave again. Thanks everyone, and any other suggestion would be great.
I always move the hen that is broody with the nest and her eggs ( that I always date ) into a separate cage so the other hens do not distrurb her or break her eggs . After a week I candle the eggs . You will be able to tell by then if they are fertile . If so , 21 days and YIPPPEEEEEEEE chicks . e
My current roo started crowing around 14 weeks, up until 4 weeks he had apparently been housed only with other roos. It took him awhile to adjust to the new flock, he spent most of his time hiding in the woods or the coop, then was harassed by the hens if he tried to approach them. They still give him the business, but he's getting the hang of things and doesn't fall off anymore when he mounts the hens. One of the funniest things I've seen is a hen scooting quickly across the yard with the rooster on her back trying to do his business. He hung on for all he was worth. Not sure if he was successful or not.
