My flock consists of 12 pullets and hens of various breeds, and two roosters. Both are Orpingtons, one is buff from hatchery stock, the other is from English lines. The buff, Spartacus, arrived as a youngster around 8 weeks old or so. Sgt Pepper, the english, arrived right around 16 weeks IIRC. He started crowing when he arrived, crowed occasionally for about a week, and hasn't crowed since. That was in mid-August. Spartacus has never crowed. He is currently at *least* 7 months old. Neither seem to act possessive of any of the gals, don't get upset when I have to corner or pick up one of the girls, etc... I'm not seeing any bare backs on any of the girls, though I'm not sure if that indicates a lack of mating or just that they're nice about it? They both pal around together just as much as they spend time around the females. No shows of dominance from either of them.
What gives? Not that I'm going to complain about a quiet chicken house, but I have roosters so I can hatch out chicks in the spring... The girls aren't laying right now, stopped about a week ago (no light in the coop), so I can't check eggs for fertilization (how would I do that anyway?). How can I be sure the boys are earning their keep?
What gives? Not that I'm going to complain about a quiet chicken house, but I have roosters so I can hatch out chicks in the spring... The girls aren't laying right now, stopped about a week ago (no light in the coop), so I can't check eggs for fertilization (how would I do that anyway?). How can I be sure the boys are earning their keep?
Everyone likes Sparty though, so we'll see. Maybe I'll have to give in and build a new run for Pepper and his girls, then I don't have to worry about the "wrong" roo breeding with certain hens. lol
