RIR Rooster... probably... not making noise

[jeffhockman]

I have some new chickens to my flock.... one of which is a RIR who i assume by the feathers that he is a rooster.... but doesnt make a peep.

it funny because my original hen, that i added them to her coop, is in complete charge and even scares the rooster but she stopped laying eggs. she's only a couple years old and it happened a month after the new ones entered the coop.

so i guess that is rtwo questions... is this a rooster and why is he not making any noise at all, and why did my eldest hen stop laying?

 

[JadeFarms]

He’s not completely mature yet so he’s not crowing. Some start later than others. He’s definitely a cockerel though.

 

[Wezdin]

He is a rooster, but he's not the alpha. The hen is still above him on the pecking order because his hormones haven't kicked in yet. Give him some time and i'll wager he'll be crowing more than you care to hear

 

[SBFChickenGirl]

He is a rooster, but he's not the alpha. The hen is still above him on the pecking order because his hormones haven't kicked in yet. Give him some time and i'll wager he'll be crowing more than you care to hear

X2

 

[Mrs. K]

Your older girl may be going into a molt. They tend to do it in the fall, and stop laying eggs. Older birds lay less than younger birds. She will probably start up again in the spring, and she will probably lay larger eggs, but not as many.

I don't think it has anything to do with the rooster.

Mrs K

 

[aart]

How long have you had him?
Is he mounting any of the girls?
Give him time, he may be just be feeling his way in slowly, which is a good thing, IMO.

 

[BonNuit]

My RIR roo, Otis, didn't crow until 20 weeks old. At 21 weeks, he would crow once or twice in the morning -- and it wasn't very loud. This lasted a week.

We congratulated ourselves on our good fortune! Yay!! -- We have a quiet roo -- no worries about cranky Gladys Kravitz neighbor across the street complaining!

We were like new parents whose kid hasn't had their first tantrum yet, and somehow think we've done something "right" to avoid the issue.

Oh, how hard hubris hits you in the face...

Now Otis crows in the morning. He crows each time one of our 14 hens lays an egg. He crows when the neighbor's bratty kid is outside screaming. He crows when he sees a predator. He crows when it's gone past time for him to have roaming time out of the run (he is used to my 5:30 scheduled time -- and somehow he knows when that is). He crows if I am late bringing the evening meal. He crows when he's bored, when he's happy, when he's horny, when he's tired, and when he's upset. He crows when he wants to hear himself crow. He crows when I plead with him not to crow. Yup.

Give it time.

He will crow.