When can I be sure my hen is not rooster?

[Chick-N-Fun]

What a handsome fella!

 

[meetthebubus]

We live on half-acre lots. There are 5 households around me that will probably be able to hear him.

BTW, how will I know if eggs have been fertilized?

Well you'll see the mating for sure most eggs get fertilized if not all, in my experiences my hens layed early bc of the rooster at 4 months old.

 

[drumstick diva]

cockerel

 

[IamRainey]

Marans are pretty easy to tell by 6 weeks...combs tell the tale on the males.

Yup! He had a well-developed comb at 6 weeks. If only I'd been experienced enough to understand that I would have known.

Silly me! All I thought is "oh boy! this one will be laying eggs in no time!"

He’s beautiful!

I think so too! If I were going to choose to have a roo, it probably would have been a BCM. The black/green iridescence of his sickle feathers is going to be gorgeous. And the copper and amber of his hackles and saddle feathers completes the look.

He’s beautiful!

Thanks! I hope that will count for something with my neighbors.

 

[IamRainey]

Well you'll see the mating for sure most eggs get fertilized if not all, in my experiences my hens layed early bc of the rooster at 4 months old.

This is entirely new territory for me.

So he'll be "servicing" all the girls (6 of them) and they'll begin laying fertilized eggs. ...some day.

Then???? One day one of them will decide to gather a clutch of eggs together and brood them?

How often is there a hatching when he has a harem to choose from?

If he were to "service" the year old hens would they get broody now as the days are already getting shorter?

 

[Farmgirl1878]

He’s a handsome boy! “I’m a woo woo...” Good thing I didn’t have a mouth full of Mountain Dew when I read that.

 

[Folly's place]

Hens go broody when they feel like it, as in when there's a hormonal change. usually, it will be when the days are getting longer again, although it's unpredictable. Some hens never decide to be moms, and others never seem to quit!
You should have fertile eggs next spring, and can the either use an incubator, or get lucky and have a broody hen.
Mary

 

[keesmom]

Then???? One day one of them will decide to gather a clutch of eggs together and brood them?

Maybe. Maybe not. I've had many that never have gone broody, then others stay broody for months.

If you definitely want to hatch an incubator would be a good idea. Then you aren't left to the whims of a hen's hormones. However have a plan for the extra cockerels you get.

 

[IamRainey]

My Plymouth Rock decided to get broody last Spring when there weren't any fertilized eggs worth her effort.

If she's willing I guess we'll get chicks. It would be wonderful to get chicks who have their own protector! I got new chicks -- which Maurice is one of -- and they've only begun to happily coexist after 14 weeks.

 

[meetthebubus]

My girls didn't go seriously broody until this summer. One group is over 2 yrs old the other group 8 months old and j had one go seriously broody couldn't break her for long kept going back broidy so i let her hatch one hatched out of 4 baby is 4 weeks old now