Rooster issue! (No not attitude, fertility!)

[Trish1974]

This is Blue:

That's also him in my avatar. He is a 3 1/2 year old Araucana cock. I acquired Blue and several other birds from well known Araucana breeder Nancy Utterback back in May. With Blue came his mate, the hen in front:

She is 3 years old. These two are heavily bonded and were shown together for a couple years in the breeding pen division in 4-H and local competitions. The hen pictured behind her is a hen also from the same breeder, though she was not in with Blue. Blue ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT MATE the clean faced hen. I have yet to see treading on her back and never had a fertile egg from her. Blue's mate has obvious signs of breeding, but her eggs are hit and miss with fertility. I will get fertile eggs for about a week from her, then duds for a week or two, then fertile eggs for a few days, then duds for a week, and so on and so on.

The trio is on Purina Flock Raiser (free choice), gets vitamins/electrolytes in their water three times a week, and is let out on pasture the last 3 hours of the day. They all look incredibly healthy and I have not seen any signs of parasites - internal or external.

At what age does fertility drop in males? Araucanas in general are slightly slower to mature than the average breed, so I wouldn't think he'd be losing fertility at 3 1/2 years old. But I don't know how long a typical rooster is fertile. Could it have anything to do with the hen? Any ideas on the hit and miss fertility with his mate, and why he doesn't even try to breed the other blue hen? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have yet to hatch a chick from them and time is running out...

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

Do you clip the butt fluff on Blue and the double tufted hen?

 

[TwoChicksChix]

There’s lots of reasons why a rooster might not mate a hen. In fact, usually the hen is the reason why, not the rooster.

Hens can say no to a breeder they don’t want, and can even essentially expel his sperm if she doesn’t want to carry his genes. So she may be why he’s not breeding her.

If seems weird, but if he’s randy enough, I have sometimes held a hen down for a rooster to breed because she was being difficult.

Also, Araucanas are know to have poor fertility, hence why the Ameraucana was made. If the chick has two copies of the tuff gene it can cause them to die in the egg, so this could also be why the other hens fertility is low.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

Also, Araucanas are know to have poor fertility, hence why the Ameraucana was made. If the chick has two copies of the tuff gene it can cause them to die in the egg, so this could also be why the other hens fertility is low.

The tufting gene has no effect on fertility. The Ameraucana was developed as an alternative to the Araucana because some breeders couldn’t deal with the difficult genes inherent in the breed.

 

[TwoChicksChix]

The gene doesn’t have to do with fertility but it can cause late quitters when incubating. However, Araucanas do just have poor fertility in general when compared to other breeds.

 

[Trish1974]

Do you clip the butt fluff on Blue and the double tufted hen?

Yep.

 

[azygous]

I'm just going to toss out a wild guess since I am not a breeder. Basically, your little stud may be too "nice", and he isn't mating often enough or even efficiently.

I ran into this problem when I was trying to make more Cream Legbars from a hatchery rooster and a hen of the breed. Strawberry has been very mild in his mating technique from the very beginning, and really doesn't bother the hens as intensely as most roosters do.

That's the only reason I figure why I got so many unfertile eggs that never gestated after three weeks under a broody. I don't know how you spark his interest in the clean-faced hen, though.

 

[Trish1974]

However, Araucanas do just have poor fertility in general when compared to other breeds.

I know a lot of people say that, but that has not been my experience. I have other
Araucana pairs and trios and don't have a problem with them.

 

[Trish1974]

I'm just going to toss out a wild guess since I am not a breeder. Basically, your little stud may be too "nice", and he isn't mating often enough or even efficiently.

I ran into this problem when I was trying to make more Cream Legbars from a hatchery rooster and a hen of the breed. Strawberry has been very mild in his mating technique from the very beginning, and really doesn't bother the hens as intensely as most roosters do.

That's the only reason I figure why I got so many unfertile eggs that never gestated after three weeks under a broody. I don't know how you spark his interest in the clean-faced hen, though.

That could very well be. Araucana males are VERY mellow. Thank you!

 

[Trish1974]

If the chick has two copies of the tuff gene it can cause them to die in the egg, so this could also be why the other hens fertility is low.

They are tufts, not tuffs.
I'm not having a problem with quitters, the fertility isn't there from the get-go.