When Do Roosters Start Mating?

Roosters are funny to watch whenever they are playing together with the hens in the yard. 

If you are a new chicken owner, you might want  to know when roosters start mating with the female chickens. 

In this blog post, you are going to discover the age range the roosters start mating with the hens in the yard. 

When do roosters start mating? Roosters usually start mating when they are three and a half months old. They usually try out before this time when they have a lot of hens around them.

How do I know if my roosters are mating?

Roosters are going to exhibit some characters when they start mating. You will see them spending more time with their female counterparts in the yard. 

Roosters moving along together with female chickens looking for something to eat just to build a relationship. 

Another thing is that you will see the rooster fighting with the other roosters to become an alpha of the group.

The rooster is doing this to establish himself as an authority so that he will be able to have access to other hens in the yard.

What age do roosters try to mate?

Some of the Roosters in my yard usually try out to mate with a female chicken when they are two months old.

Sometimes you see them practicing mating when they are still moving with their mothers or with younger hens. They try to climb on the younger ones and just to test their ability.

What time of day do roosters mate?

Roosters can meet anytime of the day whenever they feel like doing it except in the night. I have never seen you start trying to mate at the night when they are in the Coop.

However the roosters are fond of mating with the hen in the mid morning and later in the evening.

One thing I observe about my roosters is that they usually engage in mating shortly after they have eaten in the morning. 

The rooster also engages in mating when they are browsing around four for junks to eat in the garden. 

How old does a rooster have to be to fertilize a hen?

A rooster needs to be 5 months old to fertilize a hen appropriately. But this is usually determined by the quality of the semens produced by the roosters.

Some roosters will take up to 6 months before they could fertilize a hen if their semens not strong enough. 

I have some of my roosters that fertilize a hen the moment they clock 3 months.

While a large majority of them are between four months to five months of age before they could fertilize a hen. 

Sometimes, the feeding does not determine the age with which a rooster will fertilize a hen as some people often think. I said this because I gave my chickens the same set of feed.

Do roosters mate with their mothers?

Roosters can mate with their mothers. Roosters do not differentiate between the female chickens. 

It can be very difficult at first when they are coming of age in which they are capable of fertilizing a hen.

The mother hen may resist at the first attempt when the rooster is not mature enough to overpower the mother. The mother tries to fight the rooster if it persists.

But over time, the hen will shrink in the body size while the rooster grows bigger. It will get to a certain stage in which the mother hen will not be able to resist the rooster again. 

How often does a rooster mate?

A rooster can mate with female chicken two times on average in a day. Sometimes it can be three times in a day depending on the capability of the roosters.

Some of my roosters usually meet two times a day, one in the morning and one in the evening. 

The mating drive can increase when the roosters have a lot of hens around a rooster. 

I have two roosters in my yard and five hens. The roosters are capable of serving the hens regularly while they are catching fun.

At what age does a rooster stop being fertile?

A rooster will stop being fertile when they reach 6 years of age. I noticed that some of my roosters that are over 4 years old are still managing to fertilize the female chickens. 

Though the strength to mate frequently is no longer on their side at 4 years and above. 

But they still manage to fertilize the chickens especially when they mate with the younger one that has a lot of eggs in them.

Do roosters mate with all hens?

Unlike human beings, roosters mate with all hens around them including the mothers and the sisters. 

The roosters do not make any difference when it is time for them to mate with the female chickens. They go on about in the action when it is time.

How many hens do you need for a rooster?

About eight hens is enough for a roaster in the yard. A rooster is capable of serving about 4 to 10 hens in the yard. 

The only thing is that the rooster will lose weight over time when he mates with the hens frequently.

If the rooster does not have enough strength to serve them all, he is going to avoid some of them in order to conserve his energy. 

Will roosters mate with their offspring?

Just like the roosters will mate with their mothers and sisters, they are also capable of meeting with their offsprings.

Well one thing I want you to know is that there are no family members among the birds. They only live to associate with one another. 

The offspring are easy to catch for the roosters. It takes less effort for a rooster to mate with the offspring compared to the matured hens. 

The offspring do not have enough strength to run around like the older hens. Also they do not have enough feathers to take flight whenever a rooster is approaching. 

All this makes them pretty much easier for a rooster to catch and have his ways. 

Will my rooster stop mating?

Roosters will stop mating when they do not have enough strength to serve the younger hens. Roosters usually engage in less mating when they become old.

Roosters also stop mating when they are battling a serious sickness. 

Just like any other living organism, the roosters will focus on regaining their health before they could think of mating with the female counterpart. 

Can 2 roosters live together with hens?

Two roosters can live together with hens but there will always be a fight between them. 

Each of the roosters will always want to have the custody of more hens to himself. 

There was a time when I had two roosters fighting continuously in order to become the alpha male of the group. 

I tried to separate them several times but they ended up coming back together and started fighting. 

Do roosters have favorite hens?

Rooster have favorite hens among the others. I noticed that my roosters have favorite hens he likes meeting all the time.

I see the roosters moving all around together with this set of female chickens all the time. 

I also discovered that he likes to sacrifice his own food for them as his favorite but fights others that come closer.

Conclusion

Roosters start mating when they reach the age of three and a half years old. Roosters become fertile fully when they reach the age of 5 months old. 

Roosters mate with any of the hens be its mother, sister, or offspring. Roosters will stop mating when they reach the age of 6 years due to low drive.

Reference

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/when-do-roosters-start-trying-to-mate.435369/