How early do Roosters crow?

[Madhouse Pullet]

I love the sound of a rooster's crow.
They do crow all day or all night. They have a hard job of watching for predators, defending the ladies, breaking up the hen arguments, with all that work, he crows whenever he feels like it.

I love it, too! When my cockerel started for the first time, I was inside the house and I wasn't sure where the loud yell came from. Sounds so funny at first! The other day, he wouldn't stop crowing (which is new) and then I heard 2 different crows in the distance and I noticed he crowed after he heard them I can't believe they get so much range.

And it depends on the breed, too.

I have pairs of chickens together, and I very seldom see "overbreeding." I have Nankins, Belgium D'Uccles, Booted Bantams, Crevecoeurs, Sultans, Delawares, and Houdans.

I have seen roosters that run hens ragged, break feathers, and chase them from food. I do not use those roosters for breeding. No one should. But, if you read Dr.Temple Grandin's books on animal breeding, you can see that breeding for only certain characteristics can allow unintended traits to appear and be propagated (like hip dysplasia in German Shepherd dogs).

However, I will say some cockerels go through a hen-crazy stage, and by the time they are two are much better behaved. This happens more often if there is more than one cockerel (competition!)

I wonder when he will be hen-crazy. He's only mounted one of my hens. Shes not laying any eggs yet but since he already tried mounting her, will her egg be fertile when she does lay? He 16 weeks, and she's 20 weeks.

My understanding is about 2+ years.. for roosters/chickens.. though I don't currently have any studies or information to site about it.


Your sister-in-Love's bf.. is misinformed about animal behavior and sounds essentially clueless about chickens, stopping at that one subject as I likely have no room to point any fingers.. (You see I call them my family in LOVE because the law does NOT keep people together or cover transgression and short coming the way love does. Love is a choice not a feeling. In MY experience, we love people even when we don't "feel" like doing it.)

A chicken is very well intelligent enough to recognize different threats and resources unlike some people I know. They are smart enough to tell the difference between another chicken and a human or even a dog or a cat and a hawk or a barn swallow.. Their "aggression" will be directed at those things they either deem a threat, competition, or a part of the pecking order to be dominated (still competition). A rooster who is stupid enough to attack the giant that brings food daily.. earns his place in the stew pot. The meaner the roo the sweeter the stew.. are basically true words.

Chickens can recognize up to 100 different human faces.. AND act accordingly! They read YOUR body language.. is it saying I'm scared and weak attack me? Or is it saying I own my space respect it?!

Note chickens attack weak things.. it's in their nature.. to elevate their own place in the pecking order which secures their access to resources and is a way of life. By eliminating the weak they keep the flock strong.. from disease (including parasites) and thus predation as both are attracted to the weaker among us. What we see as "aggression" they see as survival!

Non chicken people also think roosters fight to the death if kept together. Uninformed folks think that pit bull's have locking jaws in fact they are just powerful and determined to hold on with NO locking mechanism.


I haven't read that book yet, but do find myself extremely interested in the genetic part of breeding chickens. Even considered ordering some Crisper cas9 to save myself YEARS of breeding for certain aspects )
https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/primer/genomicresearch/genomeediting
(also note with this therapy available the US govt is protecting big pharma by not allowing it to treat things like type 2 diabetes. We are already playing God by using birth control, antibiotics etc! This is not a moral issue.. it's a $ issue!)

I will share ONE such trait I've discovered in chickens.. Breeding ALL rose comb for generations on end, can lead to low sperm motility and ultimately breed OUT fertility from your flock. This is WHY every now and then folks get a straight comb GLW from hatchery chicks..
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3386170/

https://www.rosecombs.com/documents/low_fertility.pdf?page_id=116

Thank you for all the great information!! Definitely keeping note of this. I use to think roosters fought 'till death until I read some threads on here I just keep hoping he is nice, I haven't seen much protectiveness but he maintains order in the flock but he just stands close by and runs away when I try to pet him.

Genetics are so fascinating! ! All the different color variations and possibilities. I really like the blue wyandottes and isabel orpingtons.

I love the in-loves instead of in-laws. I am all for better way of saying things. Like, I call my step-son, Sonic (his nickname) a bonus-son. "Step-son" makes me picture a wicked step-mother from a disney movie I currently come from a blended family that has taught me more about family than I ever imagined. My first son, G-Unit's (another nickname) father passed away in 2009 (G-Unit was only 7 months old) and his family welcomed me like I was their own. Fast forward to when I married my DH, has his own son; G-Unit's family welcomed them as their own. They're a big loving family who taught me to look passed the titles and just love the family you have. When G-Unit's dad passed away, we were engaged and I was stuck in a "my family is broken" rut but that family taught me that my family was never broken and much stronger than I thought.

 

[Deenok]

My roo started crowing at 5 weeks. Here he is at 5 weeks and 5 months

 

[Sally PB]

Curious, what the minimum is of hens per 1 rooster...?

I have three pullets and one cockerel. So far it is working well. Hoping it continues!

 

[WallyG74]

There’s a lot of debate about this in the threads! Seems one rooster per 10 hens is the one most people agree on. If you have bantam breeds the ratio can be less. Some people have two roosters with a dozen hens and they get along just fine, a lot of it has to do with how much room they have. If you don’t have enough hens per rooster it can result in over mating of the hens that you have.

I have 16 hens to 1 cockerel. When he’s old enough he should be a very happy roo!

 

[Madhouse Pullet]

My roo started crowing at 5 weeks. Here he is at 5 weeks and 5 months

He is soooooooo handsome!!! what breed is he, do you have anymore pictures?

I have three pullets and one cockerel. So far it is working well. Hoping it continues!

I do too! I've been reading and watching videos on this, with some having success and hopefully you're one of the successes.
I gave my cockerel and a pullet to my mom because she lives In the country and I live within city limits; my backyard/coop isn't realistic for toooo many chickens ☹
My uncle bought her a nice coop and she was suppose to get more hens from someone else but it's been 2 weeks and she currently just has the 2 I gave her aaaannnddd 2 ducks I raised. They're about 17 weeks and no issues....fingers crossed he's a good boy until she gets more.

I have 16 hens to 1 cockerel. When he’s old enough he should be a very happy roo!

That's exciting, do you plan on getting more roos?

 

[Deenok]

I have 16 hens to 1 cockerel. When he’s old enough he should be

He is soooooooo handsome!!! what breed is he, do you have anymore pictures?

I do too! I've been reading and watching videos on this, with some having success and hopefully you're one of the successes.
I gave my cockerel and a pullet to my mom because she lives In the country and I live within city limits; my backyard/coop isn't realistic for toooo many chickens ☹
My uncle bought her a nice coop and she was suppose to get more hens from someone else but it's been 2 weeks and she currently just has the 2 I gave her aaaannnddd 2 ducks I raised. They're about 17 weeks and no issues....fingers crossed he's a good boy until she gets more.

That's exciting, do you plan on getting more roos?

thank you so much. We love him. We’re not sure what breed he is but we are told he might be partridge welsummer but idk. We have 16 pullets and 2 Roos. Our other roo is a jersey giant. All of our birds are almost 5 months. They are sweet.

 

[Deenok]

thank you so much. We love him. We’re not sure what breed he is but we are told he might be partridge welsummer but idk. We have 16 pullets and 2 Roos. Our other roo is a jersey giant. All of our birds are almost 5 months. They are sweet.

There’s pics are almost a month old lol. I’ll get recent ones

 

[Madhouse Pullet]

Wow! I love how bright the reds look with the black. Makes his colors really pop!

 

[WallyG74]

He is soooooooo handsome!!! what breed is he, do you have anymore pictures?

I do too! I've been reading and watching videos on this, with some having success and hopefully you're one of the successes.
I gave my cockerel and a pullet to my mom because she lives In the country and I live within city limits; my backyard/coop isn't realistic for toooo many chickens ☹
My uncle bought her a nice coop and she was suppose to get more hens from someone else but it's been 2 weeks and she currently just has the 2 I gave her aaaannnddd 2 ducks I raised. They're about 17 weeks and no issues....fingers crossed he's a good boy until she gets more.

That's exciting, do you plan on getting more roos?

That’s kind of up in the air right now. It all depends on how this one roo works out. He’s young and I was on the fence about getting him in the first place. I got him from a neighbor that lives 4 miles away who placed an ad in the MS Market Bulletin. He had too many young cockerels. If I do add more I’ll likely split my flock up and maybe sell a couple different breeds on the side and see if that’s something I’d like to continue.

 

[Madhouse Pullet]

That’s kind of up in the air right now. It all depends on how this one roo works out. He’s young and I was on the fence about getting him in the first place. I got him from a neighbor that lives 4 miles away who placed an ad in the MS Market Bulletin. He had too many young cockerels. If I do add more I’ll likely split my flock up and maybe sell a couple different breeds on the side and see if that’s something I’d like to continue.

That would be a great idea, have a side hustle selling different breeds. I would consider if I were to get some ayam cemani chickens