Rooster

[Possum chicken farm]

Mature size is breed dependent too; a Jersey Giant may grow for another year, for example!
My Chantecler cockerels usually add another 25% (or more) after six months of age, and I don't consider any six month old cockerel anywhere near adulthood.
I don't often weigh the bantams, except to say that they do grow a bit more too.
Mary

The person who gave him to me wasn't positive of his breed, though he looks like a silver wyandotte or seabright?

 

[Possum chicken farm]

My question is whether he will get larger yet or is he pretty much at his full size now?

They are all different but on average I'd expect a 6 month old to get maybe 20% to 25% larger. That's just a guess, I've never actually measured it. @oldhenlikesdogs @Folly's place @Mrs. K @aart are you willing to venture a guess?

As he gets older is this likely to change or at 6 months is he showing us what kind of roo he will be?

They can change at any time but so far it sounds pretty good. He's still a little immature, otherwise he would be dominating those two. It's not about size, it's about maturity and the spirit of the chickens involved, male and female. When he does mature enough to try to take over from those two it may be such a smooth transition you don't even notice until you see them willingly squatting for him. Or it could get violent for a bit. Even if it gets violent for a day or two, when he take over and they accept it things usually get really calm.

Thanks for the info! I'm feeling a little better about the situation now.

 

[Possum chicken farm]

The person who gave him to me wasn't positive of his breed, though he looks like a silver wyandotte or seabright?

Mature size is breed dependent too; a Jersey Giant may grow for another year, for example!
My Chantecler cockerels usually add another 25% (or more) after six months of age, and I don't consider any six month old cockerel anywhere near adulthood.
I don't often weigh the bantams, except to say that they do grow a bit more too.
Mary

 

[Mrs. K]

When doing his duties, duties like really taking care of the flock, alertness, tidbitting, wing dancing I really don't expect this to fully develop until a year old. Once a year old, I like having a rooster.

 

[Possum chicken farm]

When doing his duties, duties like really taking care of the flock, alertness, tidbitting, wing dancing I really don't expect this to fully develop until a year old. Once a year old, I like having a rooster.

What is "wing dancing?"

 

[aart]

What is "wing dancing?"

It's when they drop their wing and kinda dance around the girl they want to mate.

 

[Possum chicken farm]

It's when they drop their wing and kinda dance around the girl they want to mate.

Oh! I saw him do that! I didn't know that was what it was called. Thanks for the info!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'll copy this, it might help. This is between consenting adults, immature cockerels and pullets don't usually do it quite this way. Sometimes adults don't either. But to me as long as the hen squats and no one is injured things are OK.


The rooster dances for a specific hen. He lowers one wing and sort of circles her. This signals his intent.

The hen squats. This gets her body onto the ground so the rooster’s weight goes into the ground through her entire body and not just her legs. That way she can support a much heavier rooster without hurting her joints.

The rooster hops on and grabs the back of her head. The head grab helps him get in the right position to hit the target and helps him to keep his balance, but its major purpose is to tell the hen to raise her tail out of the way to expose the target. A mating will not be successful if she does not raise her tail and expose the target. The head grab is necessary.

The rooster touches vents and hops off. This may be over in the blink of an eye or it may take a few seconds. But when this is over the rooster’s part is done.

The hen then stands up, fluffs up, and shakes. This fluffy shake gets the sperm into a special container inside the hen near where the egg starts its internal journey through her internal egg making factory.

 

[Possum chicken farm]

I'll copy this, it might help. This is between consenting adults, immature cockerels and pullets don't usually do it quite this way. Sometimes adults don't either. But to me as long as the hen squats and no one is injured things are OK.


The rooster dances for a specific hen. He lowers one wing and sort of circles her. This signals his intent.

The hen squats. This gets her body onto the ground so the rooster’s weight goes into the ground through her entire body and not just her legs. That way she can support a much heavier rooster without hurting her joints.

The rooster hops on and grabs the back of her head. The head grab helps him get in the right position to hit the target and helps him to keep his balance, but its major purpose is to tell the hen to raise her tail out of the way to expose the target. A mating will not be successful if she does not raise her tail and expose the target. The head grab is necessary.

The rooster touches vents and hops off. This may be over in the blink of an eye or it may take a few seconds. But when this is over the rooster’s part is done.

The hen then stands up, fluffs up, and shakes. This fluffy shake gets the sperm into a special container inside the hen near where the egg starts its internal journey through her internal egg making factory.

How interesting! I have seen the new cockerel mount all but one of the hens. She's the top of the pecking order. It will be interesting to see how this develops. Thanks so much for sharing your experience and knowledge. I very much appreciate it.