Gentleman or Low Drive?

[Morrigan]

I finally winnowed my cockerels down to one, a 5 month old old BCM. He is in a flock with one aging rooster (soon to be dispatched), 6 older hens and 2 pullets who have not laid yet, but look to be on the cusp, and a handful of young -uns.

In the last couple of weeks, I've seen a couple of half-hearted attempts by the BCM to dance for the pullets and he's chased them a couple of times, but again, half-heartedly, and breaks off almost immediately once they start running.

He has been crowing for over a month, and looks quite large and impressive. He doesn't seem overly intimidated by the old rooster -- they are pretty much living peacefully together. The older hens give him more grief to be honest.

I've had cockerels in the past who were jumping on hens by 14 weeks old, totally undeterred by the hens or older rooster. I'm trying to understand if I should be thanking my lucky stars to have such a restrained gentleman, or wondering if he if he lacks vigor.

The old rooster is slated for the freezer later this week. I'm curious to see how that changes things.

 

[sourland]

Some just mature more slowly than others. He will find his mojo.

 

[Morrigan]

Some just mature more slowly than others. He will find his mojo.

I hope so! I'm counting on him to make beautiful babies. He's just so much less randy than most of the cockerels I've had in the past.

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

my boy is the same way.. but when the time is right he gets the job done.

 

[sourland]

Just as reduced day length impacts hormone levels in hens/pullets it also affects testosterone levels in roosters/cockerels. Your cockerel is young. By spring all eggs laid will be fertile.

 

[aart]

I agree with the 'give him time'..he's still kinda young.
The older cock might have him more cowed than you think.
It's good that he is not chasing them all over the place.
Please do come back and update after the cock has been gone for a week or so.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

The likely reason that your young rooster is not following through is the two facts that the old rooster has him buffaloed and the shrinking violet rooster is below the level of the old hens in the pecking order.

If you temporality remove the old guy, I think that your young gentleman will show his juvenile delinquent side.

 

[Morrigan]

Well, we are culling the old rooster tomorrow. He's gone lame (not bumble foot and not anything I can see to treat), can't mate the hens anymore (too slow to catch them), and he's getting kind of cranky. As much as I hoped to keep the old guy for a while to check the cockerel, I'm afraid if I wait too long, the BCM is going to sense an opportunity, and I'm going to have an incident. So, I'm going to send Duke on his way while he is on top. It's a sad day, as we've had him for many years.

I will definitely update after he's been gone a few days. I'm not looking forward to horny cockerel antics.

 

[Morrigan]

Just as reduced day length impacts hormone levels in hens/pullets it also affects testosterone levels in roosters/cockerels. Your cockerel is young. By spring all eggs laid will be fertile.

I didn't know this. It makes perfect sense, though.

 

[Shadrach]

I finally winnowed my cockerels down to one, a 5 month old old BCM. He is in a flock with one aging rooster (soon to be dispatched), 6 older hens and 2 pullets who have not laid yet, but look to be on the cusp, and a handful of young -uns.

In the last couple of weeks, I've seen a couple of half-hearted attempts by the BCM to dance for the pullets and he's chased them a couple of times, but again, half-heartedly, and breaks off almost immediately once they start running.

He has been crowing for over a month, and looks quite large and impressive. He doesn't seem overly intimidated by the old rooster -- they are pretty much living peacefully together. The older hens give him more grief to be honest.

I've had cockerels in the past who were jumping on hens by 14 weeks old, totally undeterred by the hens or older rooster. I'm trying to understand if I should be thanking my lucky stars to have such a restrained gentleman, or wondering if he if he lacks vigor.

The old rooster is slated for the freezer later this week. I'm curious to see how that changes things.

Don’t forget that in the long run, the hens choose the rooster.
The rooster may be able to force the hens to mate if he’s strong enough but he can’t make the hens follow him and if he can’t do that he can’t do the rest of his job.