Rooster not mating

[hen0014]

Hey everyone. Just brought some new chooks and a new rooster I got him to breed. How long should I expect to wait before he starts to mate with the hens?

 

[aart]

Did they all come from the same place?
How old are they?

 

[The Moonshiner]

If they're mature and penned together it should take about as long as it did for you to type that post out.

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

If they're mature and penned together it should take about as long as it did for you to type that post out.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yeah, how old are they, the boy and the girls? How are they behaving toward each other?

If your real question is how long before you can try to hatch some, it may depend on how many you have and such, but I'd give it three full days if they are mature. If you got them today, a Monday, I'd wait until Thursday to incubate the eggs. We can discuss that more if that is your real question.

 

[Battlepants]

If he is matured enough and the hens are matured enough, they will be mating all the time, especially when you aren't looking. I'd probably start with an egg fertility check in case he's just a sneaky boy.

Crack open an egg and look for the white spot, should have a circle around the spot if he's getting it right.

 

[hen0014]

Did they all come from the same place?
How old are they?

5 of the hens aren’t from the same place the other 4 are. There about a year old

 

[Ridgerunner]

At a year old they should be laying and he should be mating them. What makes you think he isn't?

 

[Battlepants]

5 of the hens aren’t from the same place the other 4 are. There about a year old

They are surely breeding unless your hens are rejecting him or he isn't brave enough to try. I'd give in a week or two and I bet you will start seeing fertile eggs or at least mating attempts. Inexperienced roos will attempt, but sometimes take a while to get it right.

Both your hens and your roo will have hit maturity at around 4-5 months.

 

[Mattl12]

If they're mature and penned together it should take about as long as it did for you to type that post out.

Yeah I stuck my Alpha hen in with my Bresse roo, I couldn't have counted to 10 before he was down to business. RIR roo has been isolated and penned with 4 hens over an hour and no dice. RIR is A beta/subordinate despite being larger than the Bresse?????