I need birds and the bees information!

[HennyJenny]

So my husband is going to kill me but I saw something today that made me curious - my lovely BO Blondie seems to be a cougar. She's being a bit of a floozie with a teenage BO roo. Since I have never had roosters before it is all new to me. Not quite as violent as I had imagined and my little spinster did not see at all put off. So it occured to me that I could get some pretty nice looking little BOs out of this if I was paying attention. (That's the part that will make my DH homicidal). My question is exactly how old does a roo need to before this is more than practice? And exactly how long is it before Blondie's eggs could have little BOs in them? Also, it's only this one roo that she's let near her but I am assuming that this is roos choice not hens and that any one of these fellas could also get interested and if I want baby BOs I should find these two a suite? Thanks in advance for the education.
Jenny

 

[deerman]

6 months most rooster will be fertile, as the other roosters get older and can dom. the hens they will mate with them. Yes with chicken ,roosters are in control, more like a rape of the hens. She has no control ,unless she can beat him in a fight.

Yes if you want pure BO pen her only with BO rooster, and a hen can store rooster's sperm for weeks after mating..

Reason alot of people are surpise with chicks from their hens.

 

[HennyJenny]

Thank you Deerman! We are several months away from this being more than practice then! She's a big girl and he's just a little over three months old so I was a little surprised it was happening at all.

 

[Hollywood Chickens]

I read that a 10 week old rooster can do it, but since I never had a rooster with mature hens I can't verify that.

 

[gryeyes]

Well, it's not ALWAYS "roo's choice." Some hens won't submit to some roosters.

In my small flock (1 rooster, 8 hens/pullets), Carl was supposed to be Carly, ooops, and was raised with six other pullets. His hormones kicked in before the girls' did, and he got randy before anybody was ready to play coop with him.

When I added two laying hens to the flock, Carl realized right away these were Real Wimmin! Wooo hoooo!

The original six girls, however, let the 2 newcomers (those floozies) know they were certainly not higher in the pecking order than the lowest of the original pullets. So, poor Millicent and Minerva got tagged a lot, in so many ways.

Carl doesn't even perform the courting dance for the M & Ms. He will call them over for goodies, though, so at least he's not a total cad.

His FAVORITE pullet, though, is Rebecca. He adores her. She gets to roost right next to him at night. He makes a fool of himself in the wing-down, circling, courtship dance to win her ... ummmm.... "affections." Quite often, she just walks away from him. He does NOT jump Rebecca if she doesn't squat for him.

And now that all 8 ladies are laying, I've checked some eggs specifically for fertility. Minerva & Millicent's eggs are ALWAYS fertile. Bernadette's eggs are usually fertile, but not always. I've only started checking this past two weeks, but the couple of Greta's I've looked at do not sport the bulls-eye. (Greta was the lowest on the flock totem pole and was really quick to let those egg-laying floozies know THEY were less important than SHE was, buh bawk buh BAWK! I don't think Carl cares all that much for her.)

So, your BO might not submit to other roos, and they might not be able to tread her.

 

[deerman]

Oh yes some rooster are fertile early, just about all are by 6 months. maybe a few at 4 months.

 

[pgpoultry]

My Brahma boys (known to be slow developers!) were fathers by 5 months.

The hens vary a lot as to who they prefer as well. One Warren hen and one Brahma hen always hang around with the boys, so they are VERY regularly mated, others hide from them as much as they can (Free rangers, so they can keep well away). The Dark Brahma hen prefers the Dark Brahma roo. Two of my warrens are good buddies, and should one of the boys start their little dance with one the other will fly over and send the roos feathers flying.

Quite entertaining to watch!

Sandie