RCCheshire
In the Brooder
Hello! I have a quick question.
We currently have a small backyard flock consisting of one rooster, five hens, one Muscovy duck and three small chicks that we purchased. My question is regarding our rooster, Fred. We got Fred from a friend's farm back in the spring. I'm not sure how old he is now, but I'm guessing around a year.
A couple months ago, we lost three hens and one of Fred's baby chicks due to a fox. At that time we were left with the duck, the rooster and two hens. Fast forward a month or so and we purchase three more hens from the same friend's farm. The flock still is having issues getting a long with two of the hens, however one of them is now Fred's favorite girl (and mine too - sshh!).
I spend a lot of time outside, especially on the weekends, and rarely see Fred mating with any other hens. Out of the probably 25-30 hours I have spent outside over the last few weeks, I have only seen him mate with Eleanor three times. Now I know he does it more when I'm not around, but I just find it odd that of all the hens, he is only ever with her. Even just walking around the property, he is always with her.
I wasn't really concerned until recently because we are looking to grow our flock significantly. I plan to at least double the number of hens and possible add another rooster to the mix when the ratio allows. We purchased an incubator and want to show our kids how the process works and allow them to be a part of all of it. But I don't see it possible to grow the flock from our current hens if Fred isn't fertilizing 4 out of 5 eggs.
I guess I typed all of that to ask if this is normal? Is he maybe still servicing all of the hens even though we don't see it? I'm still relatively new to the backyard chicken life and I absolutely wouldn't trade it for anything. I love all of my chickens! Any advice or stories of similar experiences would be much appreciated!!
Thanks in advance.
We currently have a small backyard flock consisting of one rooster, five hens, one Muscovy duck and three small chicks that we purchased. My question is regarding our rooster, Fred. We got Fred from a friend's farm back in the spring. I'm not sure how old he is now, but I'm guessing around a year.
A couple months ago, we lost three hens and one of Fred's baby chicks due to a fox. At that time we were left with the duck, the rooster and two hens. Fast forward a month or so and we purchase three more hens from the same friend's farm. The flock still is having issues getting a long with two of the hens, however one of them is now Fred's favorite girl (and mine too - sshh!).
I spend a lot of time outside, especially on the weekends, and rarely see Fred mating with any other hens. Out of the probably 25-30 hours I have spent outside over the last few weeks, I have only seen him mate with Eleanor three times. Now I know he does it more when I'm not around, but I just find it odd that of all the hens, he is only ever with her. Even just walking around the property, he is always with her.
I wasn't really concerned until recently because we are looking to grow our flock significantly. I plan to at least double the number of hens and possible add another rooster to the mix when the ratio allows. We purchased an incubator and want to show our kids how the process works and allow them to be a part of all of it. But I don't see it possible to grow the flock from our current hens if Fred isn't fertilizing 4 out of 5 eggs.
I guess I typed all of that to ask if this is normal? Is he maybe still servicing all of the hens even though we don't see it? I'm still relatively new to the backyard chicken life and I absolutely wouldn't trade it for anything. I love all of my chickens! Any advice or stories of similar experiences would be much appreciated!!
Thanks in advance.
