My silkie Roo is NOT breeding all his hens. What can I do?

yellowflower

Songster
10 Years
May 21, 2009
247
10
126
Bradford NH
I have one roo over 10 hens. I'm finding he's liking the younger hens and not the older ones. Who still lay and are not THAT old! :)
He's in great condition, he's just being selective. Is there any way of motivating him to breed with the other hens? Or will I have to do A I to get any babies from them.
Thanks!
 
try removing his favorites and leave him only the hens he ignores for a week...He'll breed them then.
 
No problem...
I have zero fertility with my 10 chickens...but I have 3 roosters and 7 laying hens...The smaller chickens might have a chance at having fertile eggs. My main roo won't let the other roosters near "his hens". There are 2 large hens, and the one large rooster, and then a silkie rooster, and small barnyard mix cockerel, and then 5 small barnyard mix chickens. The big rooster is totally uninterested in the small pullets, but he's not fertilizing the big hen's eggs either. I have seen him mating with one hen in particular, but still nothing in the eggs. He's pretty old, so I don't know if he is just too old to be fertile, or what....but I have 0 fertility probably because there are just too many roosters. We're going to eat the small barnyard mix cockerel here soon and I'm hoping that will help. If nothing else it will let me know if the big roo is in fact sterile....in which case I don't know what I will do with him. I love him so much. He follows me around, and keeps the silkie roo from attacking me...but he's not a very good rooster. All my eggs are infertile and he doesn't watch the hens when they are all outside...if he finds food he eats it...but he doesn't allow any fighting in the coop or yard, so he is in some ways invaluable. I need him to keep the peace, but I also need him to let a more virile rooster have at the hens. I fear I can't have it both ways though...Oh well, he can't live forever, and I'll very soon have more hens than he can possibly guard all at once...
 

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