Rooster breeding before crowing?

[redrooster99]

My EE roo is breeding the hens and isn't even crowing yet. He will be 17 weeks old this Tuesday. So what's going on.

 

[Wyandottes7]

Do you have any other roosters? Many young roosters won't crow, especially if there is another rooster around (as they are subordinate and don't want to attract the attention of a dominant male).

It can sometimes take over five months for a rooster to begin crowing. Crowing isn't always a sign of sexual maturity- some chicks crow as early as 4 weeks or so, but aren't breeding hens at that age.

 

[redrooster99]

So

Do you have any other roosters? Many young roosters won't crow, especially if there is another rooster around (as they are subordinate and don't want to attract the attention of a dominant male).

It can sometimes take over five months for a rooster to begin crowing. Crowing isn't always a sign of sexual maturity- some chicks crow as early as 4 weeks or so, but aren't breeding hens at that age.

do you think he is fertile. He was in there with another rooster his age and some bantam roos.

 

[Wyandottes7]

I would suspect that he's fertile. If you want to test that, you can crack the eggs open and look for the bulls-eye: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/16008/how-to-tell-a-fertile-vs-infertile-egg-pictures

 

[redrooster99]

Thankyou.