When will my roo mate with my hens???

[JLS]

I have been watching for a LONG time - weeks upon weeks. He's 24.5 weeks old. Only ONE hen out of 19 will squat for him. But he doesnt mount her! He grabs a hold of her head feathers and pulls but doesn't mount!?! When will he get it together? When will the other hens/pullets submit to him? Other than that he's a perfect gentleman

My children love to pick him up and carry him around...and he just lets them do it too

Any insight would be most appreciated!

 

[dinahmoe]

what breed is he?
some take longer than other to mature.i have had some that start at 16 weeks and some not until 7 months old.
it also depends on breed.my marans would start early and drive them and me nuts and then my ameraucanas have been very slow and gentle.
also some of my roosters know that the "girls" are too young and not ready and he is a gentleman with them(until a mature woman walks by)
it sounds like he may stay a nice boy.

 

[JLS]

Quote:
He's a blue Silkie. What a love!

 

[dinahmoe]

Quote:
He's a blue Silkie. What a love!

try putting "silkie" in your title
i don't know anything about silkies but alot of others could answer better.

 

[dan_grow]

i fined taking the roo away from the hens for a few days (make sure he cant even see them) then putting him in an enclosed area with the hens and he'll go straight for them.

 

[Barry Natchitoches]

I had a cockerel that was raised from about two days old with five pullets.


That little guy was mounting his "roommates" at about 12 weeks old -- long before they were ready for sexual activity. It got so bad that one day, I pulled him out of the henhouse and made him spend the day alone -- not as a punishment, but so that the five little pullets could have at least one day without being attacked by their roo brother.


It was such a relief when the pullets finally reached an age when they could handle his advances....


BTW, this is the same group of babies that ended up producing their own brood before they were six months old.


I'm not kidding -- at five months and about five days old, one of my Buff Orpington pullets decided she wanted to go broody. All we had at the time was the five month old pullets and that one five month old cockerel, so we took some of those little pullet eggs and put them under the little broody.


22 days after we gave that little broody some of her roomie's pullet eggs, she successfully hatched three baby chicks -- one day before these chickens celebrated their six month birthdays!


Those three little baby chicks are now healthy adult chickens, living happily in our backyard...

 

[Chicken.Lytle]

My roo had some difficulty figuring out how to do the deed, but he eventually figured it out. I got him to protect my flock , but I am a little concerned that he is not much of a lover .