Have Leghorn Roosters who does not crow and not interested in breeding

[deannd]

Turns out I have a Pearl White Leghorn rooster, but he does not crow and is not interested in breeding. I thought he was a she because he looks almost identical to the girls. He does not have any fancy plumage and is about the same size, but the other day when I was cleaning the coop he confronted me as only roosters do and I started looking closer at him and realize he was not a she.

I have 130 chickens including 40 pearl white leghorns and I thought he was just one of the girls, but after looking closer I realized his spurs are growing and his neck feathers are a bit finer and longer, his comb and waddle are bigger and the coloring of his comb and waddle and face is much redder. Also, his comb stands up much straighter than the hens.

He was hatched on March 14, 2010 so he is now over 7 months old. I would think he would be crowing already and definitely interested in the hens, which he is not. My much younger roosters are much more advanced than him. He lives in a coop with a dominant Maran rooster, so I am wondering if that my have something to do with his immature male drive. Will he ever mature?

I am really happy to have a leghorn rooster, but am wondering if I will ever see any offspring from him.

 

[bburn]

I don't know the answer but I am going to follow this thread because I had a cochin that everyone on here says is a rooster. He harms none. Stays out of everyones way. And no real rooster behaviors. The ONLY thing that is rooster like about hime is when the main rooster senses danger he is tall enough to see over the barrier and he watches really intently. No noise. No crow. No trying to breed the hens. And as far as I know, no eggs.

So I will watch for the answers you get.

 

[CMV]

As long as he feels intimidated by a dominant bird then he may well never attempt to crow or mate with your girls. If the dominant bird shows a hint of weakness then that will change in an instant. Flock animals have a pretty strict pecking order and your immature leghorn will not challenge that (if he knows where he's wise) unless he thinks he may come out on top. If you want him to be a flock husband then you should separate him out with his own group. He will service his girls if he thinks he can without retribution from the head roo.

Good luck.

 

[sourland]

The dominant rooster is suppressing his maturity. A dominant rooster in an enclosed flock environment causes lower testosterone levels in the subordinates. Come spring with increasing day length and testosterone levels his behavior will change. (And that may not be a good thing.

)

 

[bburn]

Quote:
That is exactly what happened in my flock. The BR started trying to breed the hens and the BO would have none of it and beat him up three days in a row. I pulled the BR out and put him in the tractor and we then built him a large run. Small coop for now but when DH gets home in two weeks he will build him a decent sized coop and the timing is right for the five girls to get out of quarantine that I got for him.

We still have the cochin in the main flock. The second I see any changes in his behavior I will pull him and put him separate. In the spring my grandaughter and I will get him some girls. Gee, is this chicken math? I only pray that I can make it through and all this works out like I have it planned.

And moving the BR made so much difference in the peace in the main flock it was worth it!

 

[elizabug]

i have a wyandotte that was supposed to be a hen-named her Lola- but is huge and definately a rooster- changed her name to Larry-

,but doesnt crow or breed which is good because i live where i cant have a rooster that crows. Larry is at the bottom of the pecking order so maybe he will not crow. Is that possible?

 

[dandelionheart]

Just like people and other animals, chickens come intersexed (somewhere between male and female) and also homosexual. And of course, there are just those who are late bloomers...

I'd love to have a non-crowing rooster.

 

[deannd]

Thanks everyone. I will let you know if and when he ever crows. The other interesting thing I've noticed, he drinks more water than anyone else. He is very frequently at the waterer. Not sure what that means.

 

[Blue]

I'm going to keep an eye on this thread as I also have a rooster that was supposed to be a hen and hasn't crowed or tried to mate a hen yet at 6/7 months old. I tried to re-home him, but didn't get any takers, so I'm going to see how it goes for now. He's with a silkie rooster at the moment and one hen that won't have anything to do with either of them, though not for lack of trying on the silkie's part. I have a feeling the silkie may not be in charge forever, though, once the other roo figures out how much bigger he is.