Rooster 'Business' and Fertility

[enggass]

Hey all,
I got some chickens - 5 hens and 1 rooster - from another breeder back in November as they were molting. I added light a few weeks back, and am now starting to get some eggs. Being in a new home and going through molting, they were a bit 'inactive' at first. Now that I am starting to get eggs and being that it is January in Maine, when can I expect the Roo to begin his business and making my girls eggs fertile again? I have not witnessed any active checked a few eggs but have not seen the telltale sign(bullseye). I was told that Roosters can cool down in the winter months with less drive than in warmer times of year with more daylight - Thoughts?
Thanks.

 

[aart]

When the days get longer, mating activity should begin to increase.
No guarantees with live animals, and other factors may be at play such as:
Moving/housing stress, other birds in your flock, nutrition, overall health, etc.
Do you have other males?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yes, you phrased it properly. Roosters CAN slow down during molt or in cold weather. Can does not mean they always will, but some do. In my opinion, the molt may have more to do with it than winter itself, but that’s just an opinion.

I’ve seen threads on here where people I trust to know what they are talking about say they have had those problems. I’ve seen others I also trust say they don’t have these problems. Some of those are breeders that have to hatch this time of year so they have chickens ready to show later this year.

I regularly hatch in winter, I’ll start some eggs tomorrow. If I don’t, I’ll run out of chicken meat this summer. In the past I’ve had some really good hatches this time of year, but I’ve also had some pretty bad hatches.

How old is that rooster? The older they get the more likely they are to be less vigorous in courting the ladies. I don’t know if that factors into it or not. Three to four years shouldn’t be that bad but after that it could be an issue. Some roosters aren’t all that vigorous when they are young or if they have had frostbite or some other injury.

My general thoughts are that extending the lights to get your hens laying should have the same general effect on the rooster and get his hormones flowing. Keep looking for the bull’s eye, it should not be that much longer.

Good luck!

 

[donrae]

Are you wanting to incubate eggs? If so, I'd go ahead and give it a try. I almost never see my mature roosters mate, but have good fertility most of the year. And, trying to see fertility from the bullseye is pretty iffy. Set some and see what develops. If you have poor fertility now, wait a few weeks and try again.

Since your rooster is apparently older, he may not be so active this time of year. But really, the only way to know is to set some eggs and see what happens.

 

[enggass]

My Roo was born May 2015 so he is not that old. The person I got her from said her was very fertile and fathered many an egg...
Latest egg below

 

[Chicken5555]

I don't know about you guys, but I see a bull's eye in that egg.

 

[Chicken5555]

Here is an arrow pointing at the ring that I'm seeing.

 

[enggass]

Awesome. I thought maybe but it is further out than I would expect? Any other opinions???? Thanks!

 

[enggass]

So, checked another egg today... regular light hard to see, but with use of a flashlight and room lights down it was clear... I then adjusted to B&W and adjusted exposure and contrast to reveal this...