Mating Abnormalities?

[ClareScifi]

I know this is sort of gross, but I saw a ton of fluid after one mating yesterday. I thought at first that it was from my hen, some sort of internal rupture or something, but then I suspected it was excess from the rooster. Is it odd for a large stream of grayish fluid to just trickle away like that, onto the ground? I'm very new to roosters, so I apologize for my stupidity. I never saw this on the farm, growing up?

I wondered whether maybe my hen was so full of his fluid that she couldn't hold anymore?

Also, after the two roosters both mated with Esther this morning, she nipped one of the young hen's wings, pulling on it. Do you think that might have been a stress reaction?

We are putting a divider in the coop this afternoon.

I am so worried the roosters may overtax the adult hen. She'll be 2 in March. The other two girls are just over 4 months old, the same age as the 2 roosters. The roosters don't seem very interested in mating with the younger girls, just the older hen.

I am so worried the hen might get hurt. Has anyone had experiences with hens getting hurt by a rooster? I have read that a rooster can kill a hen while mating, by breaking her neck. Is this common?

I've also heard of wing damage caused by mating. We are trying to get these 2 roosters to a farm where they will have lots of hens to mate with, but it is snowed in and we can't get there for a few days.

Thanks for your help.

 

[galanie]

You have two roosters mating one girl, yes, you have a problem. Get those boys out of there. I don't know what the liquid is you're seeing but I know for sure that your hen will kiss the ground you walk on if you get those teenagers away from her.

One rooster is more than enough for 1-3 hens. For just one hen of mating age, two are a recipe for disaster.

 

[bluestar.ranch]

be careful! 2 roosters can overmate and damage or kill pullets or hens.

 

[Zigmont]

Two roosters and one hen is very bad. I had a very large leg horn rooster who killed two of my hens and almost a third. He scratched their sides so badly under the wings with his spurs that I didn't see it until they were infected so badly that they could not be saved. The third I was able to save after a large vet bill and an extensive antibiotic treatment regimen.

I have a roo now, but I watch closely and check my girls every day. He has 5 hens and no competition. Unless you free range and have lots of hens, it is dangerous to have two Roos. Good luck.

 

[ClareScifi]

Thank you for your replies. We divided the coop last night so the girls are on one side and the boys on the other.

I hope Esther is okay. I let her free-range to her heart's content today, all by herself, and she seemed to really enjoy being free of the males.

They had the run all to themselves and got along okay. One did a mating dance on the table when the girls were in view.

I sure hope I stepped in soon enough. Poor Esther. I'm so sorry she had to go through all of that. I hope they haven't hurt her. She grazed today and stayed close to the little Bantie Hen whom I'm just starting to let outside. The Bantie sure enjoyed her freedom, as well.

Esther snuck over and ate some cat food before I could stop her. After all she's been through with the roosters of late, I felt she needed a little treat, bless her heart. She's such a gentle girl.

I looked under one wing and it seemed okay. I need to check under her other wing tomorrow. Thanks for the tips as far as what to look out for.

I can't wait until we can get the roosters away to the farm. That will be so much better for everyone concerned, I think. Do you think we should build them a nice big cage to stay in there for a while, until the other hens and the rooster there gets used to their presence. How big should it be for the two roosters, or do we need to build 2 separate cages for them? It's still cold here, so should we insulate them with pine bales around the outside, so they'll be warm enough at night for them?

 

[ClareScifi]

The roos seem to be doing fine in their bachelor pad together.

The last 2 days a hen who is 17 weeks old today went in there with them. I was afraid they'd try to mate with her, but they didn't.

At what age do 17 week old roosters start mating with hens their own age? They seem interested only in my girl who will be two in the middle of March.

She is thrilled not to have to deal with them anymore.

Do roos become interested in only one special hen and ignore all the others, or is a 17 week old hen too young for them to mate with? I thought I had seen them trying to mate with the girls their own age a while back, but maybe it didn't work? They seemed very interested in the almost 2 year old mating with her several times a day.

Luckily, she's not laying, so her feathers aren't brittle, and I don't think they hurt her too much, if at all. She seems okay and happy.

But when do I need to worry about them overdoing it with the girls their own age? When they mated with the almost 2 year old, she hated it and ran away and squawked loudly in protest every time, so I knew what was going on there. But these younger hens might not make a ruckus about it and could still get hurt?

I got the feeling the young hen missed the roos and just wanted to socialize with them, and that's what appeared to be going on. They seem to be treating her like a sister.

Do roosters prefer to mate with the hens who dislike it, who run and squawk in protest? Is that a thrill for them or something?

 

[galanie]

In my limited experience, they seem to somehow "know" if a hen is sexually mature or close to it. Mine never tried to mate with one until she was a few weeks from laying. Both the roosters I had (but only one at a time, never two at once) were the same. They'd strut and wing dance the younger pullets but never seriously try to mate with them until something like two weeks before she started to lay. They seemed to want to mate with everyone equally, it's just the ones objecting that you notice the most.

 

[keesmom]

The boys know when a pullet is reaching maturity and then they will mate her. I certainly would not put a single pullet or hen in with 2 boys. That's asking for trouble, especially when both are teenagers, and inexperienced.

BTW, roosters will mate with their sisters, mothers, aunts, cousins, occasionally other roosters and sometimes even inanimate objects as one lady's funny post about her roo wanting to breed her sneakers shows.

 

[ClareScifi]

Thanks for the info. I did see one of them try to mate with her yesterday, but she didn't squawk or protest. But I took her out of their coop as soon as I saw that, and she seems fine.

They are enjoying the sunny weather today. This is working pretty well, keeping the roosters in their own pen.

And I am thrilled to death that Baby has been accepted by his StepMama and the young hens. He doesn't try to mate with any of them, although he's the same age as the other sexually active roos. He seems to be quite a gentleman. He will chase them but never catch them, and he doesn't dare chase StepMama, who used to hate him. I think he realizes he has to prove himself to them all before getting anything going.

 

[galanie]

Great! Sounds like Baby is a keeper, and that one pullet will start laying in a couple weeks. Glad to know it's working out for you.