rooster question

[chenee42]

I have a 9 month old australorp rooster who does not sbow any signs of servicing the three hens I have. When I had another silky rooster there was a lot of action but now that the competition has gone there is nothing happening. I have just a week ago purchased some new young birds hoping this will stimulate his hormones. Any feedback on why he may not be doing his job would be great

 

[sumi]

Welcome to BYC

Glad you joined the flock! Have you checked the eggs you've been getting for signs of fertility? (Thread with pics showing what to look for here: How to Tell a Fertile vs INfertile Egg (Pictures)) He may be "polite" and leaving the hens alone while you're watching. I had a cockerel once that fathered many, many chicks, but I almost never saw him tread a hen.

 

[sunflour]

Glad you decided to join us, have no roos but wanted to welcome you to our flock.

 

[N F C]

Welcome to BYC!

Nice to have you join us.

P.S. sumi, I've never heard that description before..."tread a hen"...learn something new every day!

 

[drumstick diva]

Maybe he is a stealth breeder - please do check the eggs for signs of fertility, and then let us know. If he isn't maybe someone can offer suggestions

 

[ChickyChickens]

Welcome to BYC!!! There are loads of members on here…so if you have ANY questions…just ASK!!!

Hope you have loads of fun and all your answers answered here on BYC the BEST CHICKEN KEEPING FORUM on EARTH!!

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[chenee42]

Thanks so much for all your welcome messages I had forgotten to mention I was new and these are my first posts. Yes I was wondering if I just had a very polite rooster as he is a lovely gentlemen very caring of his girls he watches over them makes sure they are eating and acompanys them to the hen house to lay and makes a big fuss of the event when it happens. I will certainly check out the link on how to tell if an egg is fertile.

 

[BantamLover21]

I'm glad you joined the BYC "flock!"

The best way to tell if your eggs are fertile is to incubate them. Sometimes, you can tell fertility by looking at the germinal disc on the yolk of a fresh egg, but that method tends to be unreliable.

 

[Michael OShay]

Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to our flock. The other members have given you some good advice. With only three hens, I would not advise getting a second rooster as the recommended ration of roosters to hens is 1 rooster for every 10 hens. As they mature, too many roosters will become very hard physically on your hens, over-breeding them, biting and plucking the feathers from their necks and backs, battering them, and potentially, seriously injuring them. The only reason you need a rooster is to fertilize eggs for hatching, and 1 rooster can easily handle 10 hens in this regard. As unlikely as it is, should your rooster turn out to have a problem in this area, I would simply swap him out for another rooster. There are plenty of unwanted roosters out there that would be more than happy to fertilize your hens' eggs. ) Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck in getting fertile eggs.