On what age can a chicken mate?

[SillyChick]

Hello

We have 7 chickens: 5 cornish crosses and 2 RIR's(although I am not very sure if they are RIR's......I hope they are....). We decided to get rid of the Cornishes because they were eating too much and we're low on money. We got rid of 1 Cornish(we ate it). One quickly died of a dog bite(poor guy. He was quite sweet), and 2 mysteriously disappeared. They probably got scared that they might be slaughtered next and ran away, or got eaten by a cat, or mistaken by our neighbor as a wild chicken and ate them(I would be frustrated if they did!).

What's left is a Cornish crossed with a Barred Rock(she is very sweet) and the 2 young RIR's. 2 days later, the Cornish disappeared. I felt very sorry. I also felt some regret because I didn't watch over them during their free range time and I was too busy with my aquarium. Now I'm going to get focused on caring for my chickens and take care of the responsibility I've taken.

Whoa! I had a lot to express over there. Sorry for the long post! Well, let's get to the point. On what age can chickens mate and have little chickies? There's only 2 of them left(one is male and the other is female), and buying chicks is waaay too expensive. They're both 3 months old. On what age will they mate? Thanks in advance!

 

[MissPrissy]

You still have 2 - 3 months (maybe even longer) to go before the pullets will begin laying eggs. Before or at that time the cockeral will be interested in mating. That doesn't mean the eggs will be fertile. Some males need to be a year or more older before they are actually mature and can fertilize eggs. The young pullet eggs will be small and you should wait until they get larger and more standard in size before trying to hatch any other those eggs.

RIR's are not broody. To have one go broody is very rare. You probably will not catch them at any time trying to hatch eggs. The desire to do so has pretty much been bred out of them.

The broodiness of the cornish x barred rock is unpredictable.

 

[SillyChick]

Thanks MissPrissy!

I'm soooo excited for more furballs! Too bad they rarely go broody.........I want to experience having broody and angry hens!

Hmmm.......it looks like it's going to take a lot of time before they have some babies.........I think I'm going to buy - wait, no.......too expensive.....

Oh and one more question: How do you know if the eggs are fertile? Oh and how long will a hen lay fertile eggs in one mating?

Thanks in advance!