Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

At what point do you give up on a rooster and replace him? He was hatched around the first of June 2018. I got him in November and put all my hopes for an Ameraucana breeding program into him. I have 5 lovely AM girls and 6 barnyard mixes for him to keep company. He crows, he wingdrop dances (for about a month now), but I rarely see him mount, and have not yet seen any fertilized eggs. The only hen Ive seen him mount is an EE with a bum leg and she cant get away fast enough. Anybody have any thoughts to rowdy up a rooster?

Its still early give him another month.

Definitely give him more time,
I personally would separate him with the girls you want him to breed.
Less chance he will spend all his energy on the "slow ones" :)
Don't rush to replace him, he looks great and no guarantee the next one would be any better.

I really think the whacky weather hasn't helped this year. My turkeys were slow to start breeding and showing fertile eggs and I know my Tom is fertile. He's fine now so I would give your boy time.

I will wait...Hes such a nice boy, I think when his tail grows back in fully, he will really be something to see! He will make a nice cross on my lighter hens (they have good type, but poor lacing).

Peach screeched at me from the nesting box this morning, so I'm getting antsy. Maybe I'll have to get her some marans eggs and wait for Blue or Speckles to go broody for my ameraucanas.

It's kind of funny that all it takes is an 'e' to make a dud into a dude! :)

Are you trying to incubate the eggs to check fertility or just cracking them in a bowl? If so maybe your missing something. I would put 2 dozen in for a week. Crack them all open to know for sure. If any are fertile then probably another few weeks will correct that.

LongCrow wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 19, 2019 9:52 am

Are you trying to incubate the eggs to check fertility or just cracking them in a bowl? If so maybe your missing something. I would put 2 dozen in for a week. Crack them all open to know for sure. If any are fertile then probably another few weeks will correct that.

That's what I do for the turkeys, then I know they are viable too.

If you collect your eggs right after they are laid, they may not have enough development to look obviously fertile. If it's not cold in your coop try letting them sit in the nest for a while before you check them.

So, its been 3 more weeks. I don't have an incubator to try the fertility test. I've left several eggs on the counter in the house (about 21C decrees) for several days and cracked 6 this morning. 1 of 6 shows a bullseye. Rooster will be a year old around June 1st. No hens are broody yet, but I'm expecting it any day and just getting antsy that I may not get any chicks this year, or only a couple per clutch. lol....I've never heard of anyone with a rooster that isn't romancing the ladies. One of a kind I guess.