How Do Roosters Identify Hens?

Have a single rooster with 4 hens in established flock. Am now adding 16, yes 16 new young hens. These new girls are still pretty young at just 6 weeks, but I expect one day soon the rooster will realize they are hens. Just curious: what are the cues that help a rooster ID a hen? Pheromones, maybe? Long eyelashes?
Nobody is quite sure how a rooster knows when a hen is ready to lay eggs.
What is apparent from observation is roosters know some time before a hen starts to lay that she is getting to that stage.
There are observable physiological changes but the more obvious changes do not appear until the hen is ready to lay.
How the rooster knows before such changes are visible is an interesting area for study.
 
The hen has a lot to do with the mating process too. I’ve seen my hens pick favorite roosters. Violently defending against unwanted roosters and submitting completely for their favorite one. I had a socially awkward rooster who was raised alone for several weeks and introduced alone as well due to his mother trying to cull him. His leg was torn open and the timing just sucked. So when he joined the flock, he was at the very bottom of the totem pole. He was getting bullied, but he would stay in the coop most of the time and didn’t really socialize. When he reached maturity, most of the hens wanted nothing to do with him. He would mount and attempt to mate with an old feeder that was on its side. Needless to say he didn’t get the traction he needed to be successful, but that wouldn’t stop him from trying. On one occasion, he spent a solid 20 minutes trying to fertilize that feeder. I am ashamed to admit I couldn’t stop watching. It was hilarious. But fast forward several months and he is actually quite the ladies man. He’s got his mating dance down, his crow finally sounds right, and he has a few hens that follow him around while free-ranging.

So as for how does a rooster tell the difference and how does he know when to start getting his job done? I’d guess it’s a two way discussion between him and the hens. They are incredibly social creatures. It’s actually been seen that chickens can assign their caregivers a name. A unique sound they make and alert the rest of the flock that you in particular are approaching. They have also been observed as recognizing their own names and the names of their flock mates. So when you call Rosie over, Gertrude knows you aren’t calling her. While we all know chickens can sometimes be dumb as doorknobs, I think we don’t give them enough credit sometimes too.
 
…. When he reached maturity, most of the hens wanted nothing to do with him. He would mount and attempt to mate with an old feeder that was on its side. Needless to say he didn’t get the traction he needed to be successful, but that wouldn’t stop him from trying. On one occasion, he spent a solid 20 minutes trying to fertilize that feeder. I am ashamed to admit I couldn’t stop watching. It was hilarious. But fast forward several months and he is actually quite the ladies man. He’s got his mating dance down, his crow finally sounds right, and he has a few hens that follow him around while free-ranging.

So as for how does a rooster tell the difference and how does he know when to start getting his job done? I’d guess it’s a two way discussion between him and the hens. They are incredibly social creatures. It’s actually been seen that chickens can assign their caregivers a name. A unique sound they make and alert the rest of the flock that you in particular are approaching. They have also been observed as recognizing their own names and the names of their flock mates. So when you call Rosie over, Gertrude knows you aren’t calling her. While we all know chickens can sometimes be dumb as doorknobs, I think we don’t give them enough credit sometimes too.
Reminds me of a saying we have here in the Netherlands:
You have to learn it on an old bike. 🤣
 
Sometimes defining gender is difficult. Some hens will crow in the absence of a rooster but others develop wattles and combs & these LOOK like roosters. Genetically they are all females but the latter look more like a male.https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/can-chickens-really-change-gender/
Sometimes defining gender is difficult. Some hens will crow in the absence of a rooster but others develop wattles and combs & these LOOK like roosters. Genetically they are all females but the latter look more like a male.https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/can-chickens-really-change-gender/
It may be a hen your roosters dominating (hen with rooster characteristics) http://www.urbanchickenpodcast.com/ucp-
It may be a hen your roosters dominating (hen with rooster characteristics) http://www.urbanchickenpodcast.com/ucp-episode-018/
what breed of chicken is in that pic/podcast
It may be a hen your roosters dominating (hen with rooster characteristics) http://www.urbanchickenpodcast.com/ucp-episode-018/
 

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