Sexually Frustrated Rooster!?!

[gibsosyd]

Hi all!

So, I have researched all over trying to find the answer I'm looking for, but it is a kind of confusing scenario. I have an 8 month old RIR named Dexter and have had him since he was 3 days old. I also have one Buff Orpington pullet named Boo that is almost 6 months old and hatched her from an incubator. Dexter has protected her since she was put outside after the brooding process and has tried for months to woo her with waltzing and titbitting. He even grabs a leaf in his beak and will hump the ground when I go outside sometimes and also waltzes toward me, but never in an aggressive manner. He also has never pecked at Boo or tried to mount her without her consent, which is sweet, but when will she give consent, if ever? I thought that when she was switched to layer feed at 16 weeks she would start to get a little friskier, but nothing. I feel so bad for him, because I know he is sexually frustrated! If only they made sex toys for chickens!

 

[TattooedChicks]

Is your pullet laying? They typically won’t mate much or need layer feed until the eggs actually start coming. With the reduction in protein you may be slowing her development down.
Also, do you have more than one female? She might get overmated if your roo only has one to lavish his attentions on.

 

[wamtazlady]

First, Boo does not need layer pellets until she's laying. Giving her too much calcium when she's not laying is bad. The only difference between layer feed and grower is the amount of calcium. Also, is Boo laying eggs? If she is not then she's not ready for Dexter.

 

[JedJackson]

Chickens work these things out for themselves. There's no need to worry about their sex lives unless you want to hatch chicks. You might want to consider getting more hens down the road because one rooster to one hen could lead to feather damage. Beyond that my advice is to just let nature take its course.

 

[aart]

You should be very glad that he's not trying to forcefully mount her.
Unusual for a young cockerel.
She likely won't let him mount until she is ready to lay,
feeding her layer feed won't make that happen any sooner,
and as already mentioned could be harmful.

 

[gibsosyd]

I followed the instructions on the back of the feed I'm using. Purina organic feed. It states to switch to layer feed at 18 weeks so that's what I did. If it is harmful why would they put those instructions on the back? Same for Dumor organic. Says start feeding laying pellets "to prepare for laying" at 19 weeks.

 

[aart]

I followed the instructions on the back of the feed I'm using. Purina organic feed. It states to switch to layer feed at 18 weeks so that's what I did. If it is harmful why would they put those instructions on the back? Same for Dumor organic. Says start feeding laying pellets "to prepare for laying" at 19 weeks.

Weeelllll, because it's good business, sells more feed...and 19 weeks is just an average age for onset of lay.
There are varying opinions and info on whether excess calcium can cause problems.
It just makes sense to me that if they are not making eggs, they don't need that higher level of calcium. Many people with multi-aged and gendered flocks, feed an 'all-flock' type of feed and provide calcium in a separate container for the females are are laying.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You can get a lot of widely varying opinion on about any topic on here. That is generally what it is, opinion. There are very few studies on our backyard flocks, these studies are almost always conducted on the commercial broilers or hybrid egg layers who are raised differently from ours. The commercial guys are the ones that can afford to pay for those studies.

There are plenty of studies that confirm feeding excess calcium to growing chicks is bad for them. The broilers are not going to live long enough for those studies to be relevant to our backyard laying flocks. The commercial hybrids have onset of lay pretty well controlled by breeding and manipulating lights. They know when they will start to lay so they know when they can start feeding excess calcium. Those studies are what that schedule on the back of the bag comes from.

We don’t know when our pullets will start to lay. There are very few studies that show what effect the excess calcium will have on chickens that have pretty much finished growing but are not laying. I can think of one where they looked at roosters in a breeding flock. That study showed that the roosters did better on a lower calcium diet. That does not mean that every rooster will have problems but they possibly can.

There are several people on here that very strongly believe that any excess calcium is detrimental to the health of any chicken that is not laying eggs. Others don’t see that as a problem so they feed Layer to their flock, whether or not it has roosters or non-laying adults in it. Usually they don’t see a problem, especially if they give a lot of low calcium treats or the chickens forage a lot on low-calcium foods. Even those that eat noting but the Layer often do not develop problems. The potential for problems is there, but it’s not a sure thing.

I don’t know how high your risk really is. Mine get a lot of garden and kitchen scraps and forage for a lot of their food so my risk probably isn’t very high. But I avoid all confusion by feeding them a lower calcium feed with oyster shell on the side. That way I’m covered whichever is correct.

I don’t know how much risk you are exposing your pullets to, my guess is some but probably not nearly as much as others will have you think. The reason that chart shows to start feeding Layer at 18 weeks is because of the studies on those commercial laying flocks, not sturdies on our backyard chickens.

 

[gibsosyd]

You can get a lot of widely varying opinion on about any topic on here. That is generally what it is, opinion. There are very few studies on our backyard flocks, these studies are almost always conducted on the commercial broilers or hybrid egg layers who are raised differently from ours. The commercial guys are the ones that can afford to pay for those studies.

There are plenty of studies that confirm feeding excess calcium to growing chicks is bad for them. The broilers are not going to live long enough for those studies to be relevant to our backyard laying flocks. The commercial hybrids have onset of lay pretty well controlled by breeding and manipulating lights. They know when they will start to lay so they know when they can start feeding excess calcium. Those studies are what that schedule on the back of the bag comes from.

We don’t know when our pullets will start to lay. There are very few studies that show what effect the excess calcium will have on chickens that have pretty much finished growing but are not laying. I can think of one where they looked at roosters in a breeding flock. That study showed that the roosters did better on a lower calcium diet. That does not mean that every rooster will have problems but they possibly can.

There are several people on here that very strongly believe that any excess calcium is detrimental to the health of any chicken that is not laying eggs. Others don’t see that as a problem so they feed Layer to their flock, whether or not it has roosters or non-laying adults in it. Usually they don’t see a problem, especially if they give a lot of low calcium treats or the chickens forage a lot on low-calcium foods. Even those that eat noting but the Layer often do not develop problems. The potential for problems is there, but it’s not a sure thing.

I don’t know how high your risk really is. Mine get a lot of garden and kitchen scraps and forage for a lot of their food so my risk probably isn’t very high. But I avoid all confusion by feeding them a lower calcium feed with oyster shell on the side. That way I’m covered whichever is correct.

I don’t know how much risk you are exposing your pullets to, my guess is some but probably not nearly as much as others will have you think. The reason that chart shows to start feeding Layer at 18 weeks is because of the studies on those commercial laying flocks, not sturdies on our backyard chickens.

My chickens also have a large backyard with an herb garden for them and kitchen scraps. They are 100% free range also. And considering I only have 1 hen and 1 roo that they are getting more than enough calcium. I sure wouldn't want to harm them! So I guess it does make sense to switch back to regular feed for now! Thank you all for your feedback!