Is this normal??!!

[Racing Stripes Coop]

My roosters are 8 months old and fully grown while my pullets are still 6 months old I think that they start mating around then other than breeds like the Black Sumatra and Buff Orpington. Do you think that they will lay soon or not? I have heard it both ways so I wanted to know what you think. Thank you!!

My roosters are going on 8 months and my pullets are 6 1/2 months old with the exception of the few that lay. I don't think that the early mating will speed up the process, but it may indicate that the pullets will be hens soon. I had one pullet who was being constantly mated by the same rooster over and over and I had no idea why, untill a week later, when I stumbled across the same hen, in the middle of laying an egg.

 

[mimipeaches]

Shouldn't be to far off. I had a pullet last year that was mating for a little over 2 weeks before she laid her first egg. So yeah, there is the rule of thumb to go by, then there are all the exceptions and differences. You girl will start laying pretty soon.

Thank you!I hope that it is soon because they are a lot of money and they haven't earned their keep yet! They are lucky that they are so cute!

 

[mimipeaches]

My roosters are going on 8 months and my pullets are 6 1/2 months old with the exception of the few that lay. I don't think that the early mating will speed up the process, but it may indicate that the pullets will be hens soon. I had one pullet who was being constantly mated by the same rooster over and over and I had no idea why, untill a week later, when I stumbled across the same hen, in the middle of laying an egg.

Thank you! I hope that this is also what is happening to my hen! I WANT EGGS!! They sound so tasty and I have never had a farm fresh egg! Thank you for all of your help!

 

[cmom]

They are probably close to laying but the males mounting the females won't make any difference. The males are practicing. A female bird is a pullets until she reaches 1 year old then she is called a hen. Males birds are cockerels until they reach one year old then they are called roosters. Originally the eggs are small but as the birds continue to lay the eggs will get larger. Good luck and have fun...