rooster chick,crowing, breeding hens

[Egglayer123]

Im going to ask quite a few questions here, the more that can b answerd thew better Thanks
At what age will roosters normally start to crow??
At what age will the rooster b active for mating with the hen?
Aslo what age does the hen have to be?/ When they start laying?

 

[Lollipop]

You must realize that all chickens are individuals, just like people. Breed of the chicken is a major factor as well........Pop

 

[snyd08]

around 4-6 months you can expect a clear crow from your cockeral.
17 weeks is when they say hens should lay. although like stated above they are individuals and you cant time it out by the exact week always. expect eggs from 17-20 weeks old.
the rooster should be breeding as soon as the hens let him and thats about 17-20 weeks

 

[ChicKat]

Im going to ask quite a few questions here, the more that can b answerd thew better Thanks
At what age will roosters normally start to crow??
At what age will the rooster b active for mating with the hen?
Aslo what age does the hen have to be?/ When they start laying?

• I was amazed that a little cockerel I have began his 'practice crowing' (screecy) at 2-months. Sometimes I think the little ones will try to answer back to a bigger rooster in the neighborhood or neighboring pen. He was/is precocious.
• My little rooster now is nearly 4-months old...and he is ready to breed his room mate...and she is not ready to breed so I have to keep them apart for her well being. In her book 'storey's guide to raising chickens' Gail Damerow says something about separating the cockerels and pullets at about 4-8 weeks if I remember right because some will want to start breeding.
• Hen is a different story. Seems like 20-weeks is a good target to begin laying. However...seems to me like I also read in the same book that the pullet should be laying for 7-weeks before her eggs are used for hatching. I'm going to do this with my chickens. Reasons are for optimum well being of the embryos that would hatch.

Hey there Egglayer-- -Ireland is sooo beautiful. One year I flew into Dublin, then went to Lexlip (is that spelled right?) and visited a town was it Cellbridge I think it was. Ireland was all green and stones and gorgeous. Brings back a nice memory.

Good luck! it sounds like you are going to be breeding chickens. I'm just beginning to investigate the area of getting my own chickens to reproduce -- so I'm delving into the details as a beginner now a days.

 

[Egglayer123]

Thanks a million 4 the advice.. so you think i shud sepearte my cockeral soon? ther gna b 3 weeks old on monday!!
Aww leixlip in kildare?? personally i havent been myself! cork has to be the nicest place in ireland if your ever ther vist a wee topwn called kinsale! Beautiful!!
Yea i was thinkg about breeding them but it all depends on my neighbours views on the rooster :/ hopefully they wohnt mind 2 much lol
Thanks again

 

[ChicKat]

Thanks a million 4 the advice.. so you think i shud sepearte my cockeral soon? ther gna b 3 weeks old on monday!!
Aww leixlip in kildare?? personally i havent been myself! cork has to be the nicest place in ireland if your ever ther vist a wee topwn called kinsale! Beautiful!!
Yea i was thinkg about breeding them but it all depends on my neighbours views on the rooster :/ hopefully they wohnt mind 2 much lol
Thanks again

I think that maybe at some point in the future you will need to think about how you are going to deal with the cockerel---but 3-weeks are just babies. I wish I had that book at hand to verify. My guy was closer to 3-months before he began trying to breed the one pullet with him.. Later today I will try to get back on with the exact quote.

O.K,. if I get to the Emerald Isle again--I will put kinsale on my itinerary! Thanks.

 

[Egglayer123]

yea please do!! thanks againg.. much appriciated!
and yes do.. such a lovley wee town! will b visting it myself agin in august

 

[ChicKat]

ahh Here it is:

"
SEPARATING COCKERELS FROM PULLETS

At 3-8 weeks of age, depending on their breed, chicks start developing reddened combs and wattles.
The cockerels combs will become larger and more brightly colored than the pullets. Unless they're Sebrights or Campines, which are hen-feathered breeds,
the males will soon develop pointed back and saddle feathers and long tail sickles, in contrast to the more rounded back and saddle feathers and shorter tails of hens. At
about the same time, peck-order fighting will get serious and sexual activity will start. If you haven't already done so, it's time to separate the cockerels from the pullets or at least to
pare down the number of cockerels to a reasonable ratio for the number of pullets." pp. 318 Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow c2010

There it is...I think she has done a superb job of explaining the signs of maturity and what to look for, and saying too that it will be different in different breeds...so some discretion is still under the control of the chicken keepers.

 

[Egglayer123]

thank you so much!! i shall separte in the next 2-3weeks..
keep up the good advice