How do chickens mate?

[Bunnylady]

Feathers often do get broken or lost during the mating process. With a good ratio of hens to rooster(s), the loss will usually be negligible, but sometimes the damage is noticeable. You can make or buy fabric "chicken saddles" to help protect the hens' backs.

 

[jeanlbean]

This was a great read and I got some good laughs as well as gained new knowledge! Thanks!

 

[amberkay]

Is it really that easy? My hens seem more like, "get off me fool"!! Also, is there a certain age the rooster and hens have to be before they can fertilize/have fertile eggs? Mine are all @ 4 months old. I just started getting eggs this week. They are small eggs, the white ones are a bit bigger. Im VERY new at raising chickens...having lots of fun!

 

[Parent of Tudie]

I had the same question as the previous person, I bought my chickens a little over 5 months ago and really wasn't expecting a Rooster but I have one (Tudie) I thought at first he was just a chicken with an attitude hence the name Tudie.
They are all a little over 5 months now and a couple of the chickens are starting to lay I was very surprised to say the least, I thought it would be longer than that.
Anyway Tudie is doing His thing and I'm wondering if when chickens just start laying and the eggs are small if they sit on the eggs can they already get chicks at this early stage?
From what I see He's on and off very quickly can't tell if the eggs can be fertilized or not.
Parent of Tudie.

 

[MargaretYakoda]

Well, I don't know if hens who are just beginning to lay egg have a lower fertilization rate or not, but I do know that roosters who are just starting out take a little practice.

How do I know? Because our rooster (who was supposed to be a hen!) would get so excited that he actually CAUGHT one of the girls that he'd get on her completely backwards. He'd do his thing right on her beak, poor girls! No way those attempts were ever gonna fertilize anything. He only did it for about a week and a half before he got his act together enough to do it correctly.

I wish I'd have thought to film him, because it was pretty funny. And the look on the poor hen's faces when he jumped off! Shocked doesn't even come close!

 

[chad-o]

Considering the mechanics involved, it's incredible that chickens are able to reproduce. The rooster doesn't have any body parts to insert into the hen. Instead, he has to bend his body as he stands on the back of the hen so that his back opening -- his cloaca, the same opening where his poop comes out -- touches the hen's cloaca. It's actually called a cloacal kiss, and that brief touch is all that's necessary for the rooster to pass his seed into the hen. The hen is able to store the rooster's sperm to fertilize several of her eggs that will be laid over the next week or so.

I think this is the most informative post on this subject I have ever read.
Thank You

 

[scopechick]

Just to add to the mating info...we are beekeepers and honey bees mate while flying, the queen mating with numerous males.Each male dies when finished as she flies away and takes the back half of him with her. A queen only has one mating flight in her life (hence the numerous partners) and she can decide if the egg she lays will be female (genetics from her and a male) or male (drone) with genetics only from her! At the height of summer, a queen can lay 1500+ eggs per day.

 

[centrarchid]

Video linked shows the mechanics and some behaviors immediately associated with process. Example has female soliciting male which is typical of free-ranging harems.

 

[chicksneedhelp]

I have a surprise rooster and three hens about 8 months old. The roo is a New Hampshire Red, and the hens are a New Hampshire Red, a Barred Rock, and a Rhode Island Red. The BR hen got larger and developed a comb first, and then the NHR grew larger and had a comb. The RIR has stayed pretty small and dark, but has a comb. I get one or two eggs a day, and suspect the RIR hasn't laid much if any.

First problem: the roo has jumped on the BR and NIH to the point that their feathers are removed - today the BR was red in that area - not bleeding but reddened. They have some high cubbies they can escape to, but what to do? Do I need more hens for the roo to leave them alone? Why doesn't he have interest in the RIR? Is she just a very late bloomer?

Next question: I would let them have baby chicks, but would not want more roosters! Would it be better to get some chicks this spring and would the hens raise them? Would the roo be okay with that?

Finally: it has been so bitter cold this last week, and suddenly every other one of the eggs laid was smaller, thinner, and pale beige as opposed to large and milk chocolate brown. Half of the eggs usually have been speckled. So I had figured that one or possibly two girls were laying the solid ones and the other was laying the speckled one. Now I wonder if someone's sick, or if their diet is off, or if that's a reaction to cold, or if my RIR just started laying and the others cut back, or what in the world is going on!

Sorry to be so long winded...would appreciate any advice!

 

[shirleywillis]

How come my roosters do this to each other ?