Strange behavior from Cockeral....

[GreenGoddess]

I've owned chickens for almost 3 years and have never seen this behavior before... I have two 1 yr old hens in with pullets and cockerals ages 6-8 months.. Neither cockerals have begun to crow yet and I have not gotten any eggs as of yet but have started noticing that the girls faces are getting brighter red and a few quat when I pet them so that's a good sign!! However, I've watched them during the daytime and neither boy is trying to mount the girls but tonight, they were already roosting and one of the cockerals looked as though he was mounting pen of the pullets...

Is this unusual or is he just taking the chance when it seems to be the most opportune time? I just despurred one of my older roos so as soon as I move him back in with his girls tomorrow, I can take one of the cockerals and his 3 girls out of the pen and place them in that one (they are a breeding trio of lav orps).. Is the fact that I have two males in the same pen the reason neither of them are mounting the girls (except on the roost at night) in the pen?

Goddess

 

[Farm Frenzy]

I've actually had something similar happen before and I was informed that the since you have more then one rooster in together, 1 of them will develope faster then the others. The others won't crow because they are on the bottom of the rooster pecking order. they are probably starting to make a move now that the older male is gone, but once he's back it will probably go back the way it was. But now that he's been despurred, it might be a whole different arrangement now.

 

[GreenGoddess]

Well, I have 5 coops/pens total... 3 pens that are occupied full time at the moment, one that is empty (I use it for a broody pen because it's not easy to get into!) and the last one is holding my despurred roo for the night... Two of my big pens has a roo in each and the third has all the young'ns... The two cockerals in that pen have not started fighting or crowing yet... I've had young roos in pens next to older roos and never had a problem with crowing but have had problems if they were in the same pen...


eta: The despurred roo was from a totally different pen..


Goddess

 

[debid]

Are you sure he was trying to mount? I saw my boy literally climb over others on the roost to get to his favorite spot -- it looked a lot different from mating, though.

 

[GreenGoddess]

It very well may have been, not sure... I was too busy trying to despur the roo when it happened so I couldn't go check it out.. I know what it *looked* like so I figured I'd ask if it was possible... Normally they don't actually stand on each other for that long if they are just trying to get their spot and he jumped down afterwards instead of staying on the roost... Guess only time will tell...

I will be moving the lavs into their breeding pen tomorrow so maybe I will see some changes in the little guy then...

Goddess

 

[stormylady]

Quote:
All my chicken climb over each other on the roost all the time. Theres a lot of chatter and some "get over or off of me" pecking for about 10 mins or so til everyones settled in.

 

[GreenGoddess]

I'm sure this is probably what it was but I will have to watch tomorrow to see exactly what is going on... Thanks for everyone's input!

Goddess

 

[chickensbythesea]

One of my 5 month old roosters still tries to sleep directly on top of anyone nearby from time to time. He and his brothers still prefer to sleep in a pile, but if you force them to roost, he usually tries to pile onto the hens first.

He could have been trying to mate, but I know if my hens won't let them during the day, there's no way they'll put up with that when they're trying to roost. (My girls all want nothing to do with my cockerels, and make that quite clear, our flock may differ if the hens are a little less bossy)

 

[Dead Rabbit]

did i understand you right. the 1 yr old hens havent started laying either?

most roosters are crowing and mounting hens before the 6 to 8 month age. must be a late maturing line of fowl????

 

[GreenGoddess]

Quote:
I have three 2 1/2 year old Production reds, four 2 year old barred rocks, two 1 year old ameraucana mixes and three 1 year old golden comets that have laid but are "on vacation" right now... This is normal for them and once one lays, they will all lay..

I have seven 6-8 month olds that have not started laying yet but have started squatting in the last week.. three of them are lav orps, one blue orp and the others are ameraucana mixes...

ETA: On a side note, I have a production red roo in one pen with 5 girls, a barred rock roo in another pen with 5 girls and still have a lav roo and ameraucana mix roo in with the rest in a third pen... (That will change before the day is over since I will be moving my lavs to their own pen)

Goddess