Squatting to be or not to be

[Rebechenson75]

No worries. Mine didn't crow until around 25 weeks old.

Sesame Crowed for the first time this morning!!!!!!! He is 23w 2d

 

[Rebechenson75]

My handsome boy

 

[WingItRanch]

My handsome boy

He is quite handsome and now he found his voice!

 

[Rebechenson75]

I've noticed that my one pullet that is no where near POL has been acting bratty the last few days. I've also noticed that Sesame let's the girls have the snacks before he dives in. He use to just dive in.

 

[Rebechenson75]

I have a question.

Why would my cockerel hold down one of the pullets head and bite/pull her neck feathers?

 

[WingItRanch]

I have a question.

Why would my cockerel hold down one of the pullets head and bite/pull her neck feathers?

He's probably attempting to mate. At first, they can be a little clumsy and just randomly grab. When it's done correctly, the male will use his beak to grab the back of the neck and climb on top of the female to mate. I think he does this to encourage her to lift her tail feathers so he can complete the mating. Probably also for balance.

Cockerels typically want to start mating before the pullets are ready so he may start chasing them and if he catches them, they'll scream and try to get away. This can cause some injuries so sometimes people suggest separating the cockerel until the pullets start squatting and have larger, redder combs (showing signs of sexual maturity).

My cockerel was a little slower to develop so he didn't really start mating attempts until the girls were mature.

 

[Rebechenson75]

He's probably attempting to mate. At first, they can be a little clumsy and just randomly grab. When it's done correctly, the male will use his beak to grab the back of the neck and climb on top of the female to mate. I think he does this to encourage her to lift her tail feathers so he can complete the mating. Probably also for balance.

Cockerels typically want to start mating before the pullets are ready so he may start chasing them and if he catches them, they'll scream and try to get away. This can cause some injuries so sometimes people suggest separating the cockerel until the pullets start squatting and have larger, redder combs (showing signs of sexual maturity).

My cockerel was a little slower to develop so he didn't really start mating attempts until the girls were mature.

Most of the girls are pretty close to POL. They are all 22 weeks. He is a light brahma that just did his first cross yesterday. The one he chose today is deep red in her combs and wattles. I haven't seen any squatting yet.

Thank you for your time and the information.

 

[WingItRanch]

Most of the girls are pretty close to POL. They are all 22 weeks. He is a light brahma that just did his first cross yesterday. The one he chose today is deep red in her combs and wattles. I haven't seen any squatting yet.

Thank you for your time and the information.

He'll get the hang of it! Practice makes perfect.

I'd just keep an eye out and make sure he's not hurting them. Mating is actually a very fast process once they figure it out. Blink of an eye, really!

 

[Rebechenson75]

He'll get the hang of it! Practice makes perfect.

I'd just keep an eye out and make sure he's not hurting them. Mating is actually a very fast process once they figure it out. Blink of an eye, really!

He is actually really good with his girls. He typically will give them a quick peck on the head if they get loud but is never overly rough. He's a good boy.

 

[flockoff]

You have quiet Wyandottes?? I didn't think that was a thing, lol. Mine never shut up. Their noise is so distinct, even my half Wynadotte mixes make the noise.

I've found that pullets that mature in the fall/winter tend to lay later than my spring babies. In the spring my babies lay right around the 20 week/4 month mark. But later season babies seem to lay closer to 6 months.

The trade-off is that later laying pullets tend to start right off with larger eggs. I have a very petite little EE girl who just started laying at 6 months and all of her eggs so far (maybe 5 or 6?) have been over 50 grams!

I second this. Obviously this is subjective and my sample pool is 10, but I have two batches of pullets at different ages and they all started laying almost 2 months later than what is considered “typical” for their breeds. They were around 27/28 weeks when they started laying and I still have a few that haven’t started.

Of the pullets that are in lay, roughly 80% started squatting a week/a few days before their first egg. The pullets that have not come into lay- 0% squat. All of them who lay are loud and chatty, though. (They’re all different breeds, a few of which are mixes ie oliver egger.)