I think my new dude is a dud

[Shnookie]

He's a pretty rooster. Here's some information about breeding that I got from a UK website. Maybe you can find something in it that will help.

Poultry Breeding - Effect of Light
There are many misconceptions when it comes to breeding, if you'll pardon the pun. It's necessary to have good, fertile breeding stock, and to provide the best possible conditions for them. Having an accurate knowledge of the breeding cycle is a good place to start.
Through the winter, poultry have no interest in breeding. There are sound biological reasons for this because, in the wild, the cold weather conditions and general lack of food would mitigate against it. As spring approaches and the day length increases, it is a different scenario.
The effect of increased light has a galvanising effect. As it falls on the bird, it stimulates the pituitary gland of the brain to produce more of the hormone pituitrin. This is transported in the bloodstream to the ovary that is then stimulated to produce eggs. At one time, it was thought that the pituitary gland was affected by the reception of light through the eyes, but recent research has shown that even blind birds respond to increased daylight. It is now thought that the whole head and back area are affected.

Increasing the 'day' by giving a certain amount of artificial light in the house is a routine exercise with commercial flocks, so that the number of eggs does not dip in the winter. It is also a technique that is used by breeders to induce earlier laying so that the breeding season is extended. For best fertility, it is generally recommended to give the male birds extra light for two weeks before it is given to the hens. As with the females, the effect of light is to stimulate hormone production. The amount of extra light needed is not great, and involves two factors: day length and light intensity. The former is the provision of a total of 15 hours of light, made up of natural and artificial light as required. The latter is the degree of brightness and the unit of measurement is a lux. Around 10-lux is the minimum required for a house, and when you consider that 5-lux is the equivalent of side road lighting, it will be seen that the required intensity is not great.

Depending on the size of the house and the flock lighting could be from one 40-watt tungsten bulb, one 6 to 8 watt fluorescent bulb or tube, or one 25-watt bulb. One light source is enough for up to 100 birds. Power sources range from mains electricity to 12-volt car batteries or rechargeable NiCad batteries. Some houses have a photovoltaic (PV) panel so that solar energy is used to provide light inside. As far as controls are concerned, small-scale systems are available where a sensor 'reads' the amount of natural light available and automatically switches on the 12 volt powered source to make up the difference. The need for light was well known even before the widespread availability of electricity. Traditionally, winter houses were painted white inside to maximise the amount of reflected light. Sometimes, a mirror was placed inside for the same purpose. It is interesting to see that many of the new, mobile houses now being designed for commercial free-range and organic flocks are also white inside. Their smooth interior panels are highly insulated and smooth for ease of cleaning, as well as not providing a haven for pests such as red mites.

Poultry Breeding - The System
The chicken has only one ovary, usually on the left side; the one on the right stops developing when the female chick hatches. The ovary is made up of a cluster of sacs that contain thousands of tiny ova. Each ovum is contained within its own follicle. As the pullet matures, the ova develop, a few at a time, into yolks with a single female cell within a white spot called the blastodisc on the surface. When the follicle of the mature ovum ruptures, the yolk is released into the infundibulum. This is the entrance of the oviduct or reproductive tract.

The male bird has two testes, but these do not descend into an external scrotum, as is the case with other farm animals. Each testis is made up of a number of ducts that lead to the main reproductive tract, the vas deferens or deferens duct. This, in turn opens into a small organ composed of two papillae at the back of the cloaca or vent. The male bird will normally respond to the fact that the hen has started to release ripe yolk ova. This pre-supposes that he is old enough and is also at a fertile stage. If he has been given extra light a couple of weeks before the hens, as referred to earlier, this will normally be the case. It is important to ensure that he is fully grown before being given extra light; otherwise the effect is to produce a precocious bird before his bodily frame is ready to cope.

Poultry Breeding - Mating
Mating is usually preceded by a rather growly sound from the male, accompanied by a shuffling side-stepping as he approaches the female. Then, it's a leap onto her back, grasping the feathers at the back of her head in his beak while he brings his cloaca to hers. The female will often squat slightly while the 'treading' is taking place, and then it's all over in a matter of seconds. There is usually a ruffling of feathers and the two then walk away from each other. The sperm travels up from the female's cloaca into the oviduct and up to the infundibulum. Here, a sperm from the male can penetrate the blastodisc of the yolk and fuse with the female cell, forming a blastoderm. Technically speaking, it is now a true egg.
Sperms can live for up to three weeks in the oviduct so it is important to separate the breeds if they have been running together, and only take eggs for incubation after the hen concerned has been with the appropriate male for at least this length of time.

The male can cause damage to the female’s sides if his spurs are too long, so they need to be kept trimmed on a breeding cock. There is no truth in the old belief that his fertility will be affected by having his spurs trimmed. This probably originated in the time when long spurs were valued in fighting cocks. Breeding hens that have a lot of fluffy feathers around the bottom may need to have some of them trimmed back in case the vent is difficult to reach. The breeding ratio is the number of females accompanying a male for breeding purposes. It will vary depending upon the size and type of the breed. With light, utility breeds it may be as high as ten females to one male, with a ratio of eight to one for heavy breeds, although a lower ratio is common, particularly with rarer breeds. Here, trios or even pairs are more usual. Some of the breeds, such as Booted or Sabelpoot bantams, find breeding more difficult because of the large leg feathers. Pen mating is where one male is penned with several females, while flock mating is where there are several males running with a larger flock. This is usually on a field scale so there is unlikely to be a problem of the males fighting. Fertility tends to be higher with flock mating. On a small scale, if there is a problem of a 'lazy' male, he can be penned within sight of the females but not so that he can access them. Meanwhile, another male can be used. A few days of this will usually rekindle the interest of the confined male.

Poultry Breeding - Health and Appearance
It goes without saying that all breeding birds should be healthy and good examples of their type. Pure breeds will have their breed standards to compare with, and can be selected on the basis of appearance and productivity, or whatever characteristic is desired. With some breeds, such as Sebrights, it might be a wish to breed birds with a particular kind of lacing in the plumage. With others, such as Hamburghs, it might be a wish to breed birds with fine pencilling on the feathers. Utility birds will tend to be chosen for their ability to produce a good number of eggs. Whatever the criteria, keeping adequate records is essential. This involves being able to identify the breeding birds according to their pen number or leg ring identification, and recording details of the hatches, including fatalities. Not many people go in for trap-nesting these days, but it is essential if individual eggs are to be identified as coming from specific hens. A trap-nest allows the hen to go in but not out until the door is opened for her. This obviously places a responsibility on the poultry keeper to make regular checks so that the hen is not confined for longer than is necessary.
On a very small scale, it may be possible to identify eggs as coming from a particular hen. I once had a Rhode Island Red that laid a much darker egg than the others, for example, while one of my Marans produced a very pale and insignificant egg so she was never bred from. Sometimes, hens have a tendency to want to share a nest, particularly if there are no individual nest boxes provided. This does not matter too much if eggs are collected regularly and they are all of the same breed and quality, but it could be problematic if some hens were better than others.

Poultry Breeding - Feeding Breeders
One of the most important aspects of breeding is ensuring that the breeders are given a proper, balanced food ration. It is also one of the most neglected areas, as far as the small poultry-keeping sector is concerned. A layer's ration is fine for an adult hen that is required to lay eggs for consumption, but it is not ideal for a breeding bird. In this case, the parent birds are required to produce fertile eggs that will incubate and hatch healthy young birds. The balance of required amino acids, minerals and vitamins is a different one, and deficiencies can show up in the hatched progeny.

This table indicates some of the problems that may occur.

Deficiency diseases in newly hatched birds
Nutrient Effect of deficiency
Vitamin A Early incubation. Small, pale eyes.
Vitamin B1 (Thiamin) Lack of muscular coordination. Inability to extend legs.
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) Clubbed ends to down feathers. Curly toes. 'Parrot' beaks.
Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) Convulsive movements. Paddling of feet.
VItamin B12 (Cobalmin) Inadequate blood cell formation. Anaemia. Fluid in body. Short beaks. Perosis or slipped tendons.
Vitamin D Inability to metabolize calcium and phosphorus. Rickets. Splayed legs. Twisted breastbones. Soft beaks. Small, pale eyes.
Calcium and Phosphorus As for Vitamin D deficiency.
Vitamin E Encephalamasia or Crazy Chick disease, where chicks can only look upwards. Paddling of feet.
Vitamin K Inadequate blood clotting. Haemorrhages.
Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic acid) Lack of muscular coordination. Abnormal feathering.
Vitamin H (Biotin) Twisted legs and wings. 'Parrot' beaks. Webbed toes.
Folic acid Inadequate feathering and poor growth.
Manganese Perosis. Birds with short legs and wings, bulging heads and 'parrot' beaks.
Zinc Abnormal heads and beaks. Poor spinal development. Eyes pale and small.
Iodine Over-long incubation time. Navel still open.

The way to avoid deficiency problems in newly hatched birds is to give the parents a specially formulated breeder's ration. At one time, these were only available in large quantities, making their purchase an impractical proposition for the small breeder. They would have 'gone off' before they could be used up, resulting in considerable and expensive wastage. I used to get round this by giving my breeding birds a layer's ration, with additions of ground-up multi-vitamin tablets, cod liver oil and Marmite. Fortunately, it is now possible to buy a breeder's ration in relatively small amounts from specialist suppliers. Anyone considering breeding would be well advised to use it. If fertile eggs are to be incubated in the spring, then a breeder's ration can be given from winter onwards so that the parent birds are in excellent condition for breeding.

Poultry Breeding - Housing
Most people will have a poultry house, but if the intention is to go in for serious breeding, it will be necessary to have more than one. A garden shed can be adapted as a breeding house, of course, or a small house with attached run can be made or bought from suppliers. It is a good idea to ask for suppliers’ catalogues and see what is available. Many suppliers also exhibit at poultry and agricultural shows. If natural incubation with a broody hen is followed, they will need their own house and run until the chicks are big enough to look after themselves. With artificial incubation, the chicks will need their own, protected and heated accommodation until they are hardy. They should be kept separate from older birds, not only to lessen the chances of disease and parasite transference, but also to protect them from being bullied. The same goes for breeds of different sizes. A small bantam breed, for example, will not always co-exist happily with a large breed.