No crow???

[GBov]

Thought I had removed all my roos from my hens but have one pretty red one that I couldnt tell if it was a boy or a girl but as my little oddball was so cute I kept it. I havnt heard any crowing but cleaned out the pen today and found an egg that was about 3 or 4 days old. I had seen it but thought "Yeh, I'll pick that up in a min." and didnt.

Cracked it open and found a bit of chick growing activity!

Not much, but deff. an embryo developing.

Will a roo not crow if he is alone? Or do I just have a stealth rooster

 

[ssbs]

Depends, how long ago did you remove the roos?? If it's been less than a few weeks ago then the hen that laid it was probably bred prior to their removal.

 

[Stellar]

I have some very quiet roos...the one in my bedroom doesn't crow unless he is hungry

 

[GBov]

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Its been 8 or so weeks now since I took them out.

 

[GBov]

Quote:
Well, my lot dont get hungry often - little piggies that they are - so no luck there

 

[shelleyd2008]

Males will crow more if they are alone or don't have enough females...so I guess your guy is pretty happy

 

[Madcap621]

Question: what is the max ratio of roo to hen for fertile egg production [coturnix] ?

 

[Stellar]

I house my birds in smaller groups as a preference, but I get VERY fertile eggs with 2 cocks and 6-7 hens in each enclosure, some have 5 cocks and 14 hens and those work too...as long as the boys don't fight and they have ladies to "work" with it's all good.

 

[shelleyd2008]

The most hens I've had in one pen was with my browns last season, I had 12 (I think?) hens with 2 roos. The least I've had was 1 roo with 2 hens...either way worked all right. Except that the 2 hen pen had bald hens

 

[GBov]

The other reason I think maybe this one may be a boy is some of the girls are scruffy looking with bald patches on their backs. I havnt caught anyone breeding but is they arnt shouldnt the feathers have grown back by now?

The suspect male is my shyest bird so just watching it involves sneaking up on the pen.

Think I might just set 20 or so eggs and see what happens. Its always nice to have an excuse to hatch some eggs