choosing a cockerel

[chickenfan]

I have two cream legbar cockerels, one with a loud crow, one a normal one. The hens initially seemed to pal up more with the quieter cockerel, but now they are not in lay they have been really protesting about his advances and one has even been lying on her side after mating, so I've separated him. Has he turned out to be an unsuitable bird? Also I do wonder if the loud crowers are sometimes stronger birds.

 

[Hen-Gen]

Interesting question. As a secondary sexual characteristic one would think that the cockerel with the loudest crow would be most appealing to the hens.
Certainly I leave my cockerels and hens together all year with no problems. And yet recently someone asked me to despatch her Barnvelder cockerel because he was incessantly bothering the hens. I guess it’s down to the individual bird.

 

[chickenfan]

Thanks Hen-Gen. I'm not quite sure why the hens suddenly found him so objectionable. He is a large cockerel so perhaps just a bit too big and heavy, or perhaps he has become less charming than when he was younger.

 

[Marigold]

Perhaps, now they're not in lay, they just don't feel up to it? I think we could all sympathise with that, at times!

 

[Shadrach]

Are the cockerels the same breed as the hens?