silkie rooster not mating hens????PLEASE HELP

[dechicks]

so i had 2 roosters silkie was the bottom rank so i got rid of other 2 bc i only want 1 rooster thats been 2 weeks ago hes not mating any of the hens and 1 has went broody does that mean her eggs r not fertilzed...why is he not mating them they r the same size as him but i didnt think size mattered its not a huge differece ..please help....

 

[Judy]

He may be mating when you are not looking, if everyone is old enough. Check an egg or two for fertility:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/16008/how-to-tell-a-fertile-vs-infertile-egg-pictures/0_20

 

[chooks4life]

Some of my silky or silky mix roosters spent a lot of time 'wooing' the hens before they tried anything. I've also had more or less infertile roosters that mated normally. As flockwatcher said he may be mating when you're not watching. Silkys tend to be quite instinctive and some have certain periods of the day when they will mate as opposed to all day.

Also if it's only been 2 weeks since you got rid of the last roo, and a hen's set her clutch (assuming you allowed her to build one up), they could still be fertilized by the last roo. You'd have to wait longer than that to be absolutely sure they are fertilized by the remaining roo.

If he's quite young and not very instinctive he may not have gained the bravery to try to mate. Do the hens tell him off at all?

 

[dechicks]

Some of my silky or silky mix roosters spent a lot of time 'wooing' the hens before they tried anything. I've also had more or less infertile roosters that mated normally. As flockwatcher said he may be mating when you're not watching. Silkys tend to be quite instinctive and some have certain periods of the day when they will mate as opposed to all day.

Also if it's only been 2 weeks since you got rid of the last roo, and a hen's set her clutch (assuming you allowed her to build one up), they could still be fertilized by the last roo. You'd have to wait longer than that to be absolutely sure they are fertilized by the remaining roo.

If he's quite young and not very instinctive he may not have gained the bravery to try to mate. Do the hens tell him off at all?

tell him off?? i have seen him try to mate rir but she just runs away...well i thought she was setting on eggs but i just went out there and shes off of them and there cold so that means shes not sitting right?? he seems to not understand how excatly to mate from what i can see he is just a yr old also does hens know if she has fertile eggs?? does size matter to a silkie roo bc he is the same size as hens and a lil smaller than the domoniqe

 

[Ceilismom]

The hen doesn't know whether or not the eggs are fertile. They'll sit on rocks, golf balls or nothing if the mothership tells them it's time to go broody. If the rooster was the low man on the totem pole, he's used to the other roosters not allowing him to mate with the hens, and that's what the hens are used to, too. Give it some time, and it'll all likely work out. The occasional rooster just never does earn the hens' respect, but if the hens will allow it, the rooster will get the job done eventually.

 

[chooks4life]

The more instinctive hens can tell if an eggs's fertile within a few days of sitting, possibly because the temperature changes. I've never been able to get even my least instinctive hens to sit on a golf ball, they refuse to nest on it, but will accept egg shape, size and color plaster fakes. It's probably got a lot to do with what the ancestors of those chooks were gotten used to. Some of my smartest hens do know if they're laying fertile eggs. They won't tend a clutch if they haven't been mating but take all kinds of pains to ensure a good nest for a clutch produced after mating, but they're the exception, not the rule. They're generally pekin-silkie mixes.

Some hens won't ever respect a rooster, as Ceilismom said, and usually I think it's because they sense a flaw in him genetically. Some will attack a rooster they don't like when he tries to mate, and sometimes a rooster who starts trying to mate young can be extremely daunted by that for a fair while, until he realizes he's not a juvenile anymore. Was your roo raised with hens? The size of the hens compared to the roo almost never matters unless he's too big and is crushing them. As for whether the clutch is abandoned, you woul have to wait longer to know for sure, because it's not uncommon for hens to leave the eggs to go cold, especially in the early stages, without harm. Depending of course on where you live and how cold it gets there.

It takes time for a rooster to learn to mate and kelp seems to bring out all sorts of latent instincts and physical characteristics. A year old roo who hasn't figured it out is backwards, but could be that way only temporarily while he learns. Hopefully... I have had a 4-week-old rooster, and lots of 6-week-olds, trying to mate and doing everything right except the part where they produce viable sperm!

 

[dechicks]

The more instinctive hens can tell if an eggs's fertile within a few days of sitting, possibly because the temperature changes. I've never been able to get even my least instinctive hens to sit on a golf ball, they refuse to nest on it, but will accept egg shape, size and color plaster fakes. It's probably got a lot to do with what the ancestors of those chooks were gotten used to. Some of my smartest hens do know if they're laying fertile eggs. They won't tend a clutch if they haven't been mating but take all kinds of pains to ensure a good nest for a clutch produced after mating, but they're the exception, not the rule. They're generally pekin-silkie mixes.

Some hens won't ever respect a rooster, as Ceilismom said, and usually I think it's because they sense a flaw in him genetically. Some will attack a rooster they don't like when he tries to mate, and sometimes a rooster who starts trying to mate young can be extremely daunted by that for a fair while, until he realizes he's not a juvenile anymore. Was your roo raised with hens? The size of the hens compared to the roo almost never matters unless he's too big and is crushing them. As for whether the clutch is abandoned, you woul have to wait longer to know for sure, because it's not uncommon for hens to leave the eggs to go cold, especially in the early stages, without harm. Depending of course on where you live and how cold it gets there.

It takes time for a rooster to learn to mate and kelp seems to bring out all sorts of latent instincts and physical characteristics. A year old roo who hasn't figured it out is backwards, but could be that way only temporarily while he learns. Hopefully... I have had a 4-week-old rooster, and lots of 6-week-olds, trying to mate and doing everything right except the part where they produce viable sperm!

thank youfor all ur info this is her 1st time and she is on and off all dayshe lets all the other go in and lay there eggs i just dont want her to sit all month and her not have any babies he is very nice to all the hens shows them food they all come running if u can understand this he kinda runs up to them anf tries to jump on them and he dont hold the back of ther neck so they run he is just 1 yr old... y is it he dont even try with some of the hens and idont think he was raised with hens the person i got him from had all young roosters together and he is same size as hens maybe a tad smaller

 

[chooks4life]

Aha, I think you've found the problem then; he might just be a n00b at the whole mating thing due to how he was raised. Given time he should figure it out.

As for your 1st time broody, you probably won't be able to tell if she's going to sit all the way through an consistently enough till after her first clutch, assuming she manages one. Some hens sit perfect and then abandon hatching chicks. One of the last hens I culled was doing great, sat the clutch perfectly, until the babies popped their heads out from under her, whereupon she ate their brains and eyes. Culled her the same day!

Some more amorous types of more instinctive strains/breeds will sit for the roo before he even gets there, and don't care if he doesn't hold on. They'll proposition him even if he's not interested. But generally speaking it can be very hard for a rooster to balance without holding on so hopefully he'll learn to. If you give him kelp granules he will recover lost instinct so much quicker, and be healthier in general, make better babies, etc. Feedbarns and produce stores usually sell kelp, and you can give him a pinch a day in a bit of bread, if you want to speed up the process, though it sounds like he's close to getting it.

 

[BuckNBark Farm]

I'm a little late joining in here. My silkie roo has wonderful type, but he won't mate. He doesn't dance, show them food, talk to them...anything. I know the hens will accept him, they have squatted right in front of him. He's not a very active boy. I seriously wonder if he was pecked on the head, and is a little 'off". He basically stands around in one or two spots all day. Doesn't scratch, dust bathe (never have seen him). I thought maybe he couldn't see, so I trimmed his feathers out of his face. He seems to be able to see. He's over a year old.

Anyone had a roo like that, that finally came around?

Thanks!

Pam

 

[chooks4life]

Sorry, BuckNBark Farm, I'd consider him a dead loss and even if he did "come round" I wouldn't breed him. That's a serious absence of normality in evidence.

Something is deeply wrong with him by the sounds of that. If this was temporary, maybe I'd tolerate it, but he's over a year old, you say... He's failing to act normal on multiple counts, not just the mating, so overall he sounds like a nonviable individual, not going to pass on his genes without human intervention, and for good reason.

This is just my opinion, sorry if it offends; do whatever you think is right and I hope it works out for you. Best wishes.