How normal is this really?

[lilwanderer]

I probably would have considered it "practicing" instead of "showing off," but since I'm not a chicken I could easily be wrong with my interpretation

could be either, although I don't think chickens would naturally practice things, but who knows.

 

[NatJ]

could be either, although I don't think chickens would naturally practice things, but who knows.

When I see chicks doing something badly, and later doing it better, my human brain says they were "practicing." That includes walking (stumbling around after they first hatch) and flying (flap wings, run around) and preening (little chicks try to preen the feathers they haven't got, and fall over while they do it) and mating (try and not succeed, later try and do succeed.)

But that's me as a human putting a word on it

 

[lilwanderer]

When I see chicks doing something badly, and later doing it better, my human brain says they were "practicing." That includes walking (stumbling around after they first hatch) and flying (flap wings, run around) and preening (little chicks try to preen the feathers they haven't got, and fall over while they do it) and mating (try and not succeed, later try and do succeed.)

But that's me as a human putting a word on it

Good point, although some of that naturally comes to them- Just like how incubated chicks will automatically know how to scratch, perch, anything of the sort without having a mother around.

 

[lilwanderer]

When I see chicks doing something badly, and later doing it better, my human brain says they were "practicing." That includes walking (stumbling around after they first hatch) and flying (flap wings, run around) and preening (little chicks try to preen the feathers they haven't got, and fall over while they do it) and mating (try and not succeed, later try and do succeed.)

But that's me as a human putting a word on it

Something else I can say about that when it comes to randy ( what I'm calling the little guy now) is that he did pretty well for his age, he's just, small. Almost resembled a bantam roo after a full-sized brahma hen

 

[Poodlemum]

The earliest I personally saw a cockerel mating was 2 1/2 months old, and I incubated some eggs that were laid when he was 3 months-- they hatched. I have read of cockerels being fertile younger than that, down to 7 weeks or so.

This is fascinating! Perhaps I won’t have to keep my little Wellie around as long as I’d planned Also upset that we lost our WTB cockerel, it would have been nice to get olive eggers laying this year

 

[NatJ]

This is fascinating! Perhaps I won’t have to keep my little Wellie around as long as I’d planned

Cockerels start mating at widely varied ages. I've read of some (usually large breeds) that wait 6-8 months or occasionally more. Some of the standard-sized light breeds are known for early maturity, and my own early one was a bantam (Old English Game).

My young cockerel was mating with only one hen at that time (I set eggs from about 6 hens, and only eggs from one developed.) I think the other hens were too scary when he was that young He probably would have started mating with the other hens as he got older, but I got tired of the crowing and decided I had enough chicks, so I butchered him.