Do cockerel charms improve with age?

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chickenfan

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I have a very young speckled sussex bantam (4 months old) who is glorious looking and nice-natured that I would like to use for breeding. He has been crowing non-stop (a bit less now) and has been being rather a nuisance to the hens, just racing after them and jumping on them, and they don't appreciate him much so far. Is he likely to improve in his hen-gallantry as he gets older? I'd like to choose one the hens are going to like.
 
They don't slow down that much Chickenfan. We have a TNN cock (Jean-Claude) removed from his girls because he was treading them to death. Our accidental crossbreed cock (Chester -Buff Orpington x Gold Wyandotte) is also treading Minnie rather heavily and she will need a saddle soon. Both are 2 years old now. Zebedee, our young ( about 12 months) French Blue laced Wyandotte cockerel, is crazy and terrorises his 4 ½ year old girls. Fortunately they have plenty of room to escape. The older boys are only less active because they are old and can't catch the hens so easily.

Bantam cockerels are reputed to be very active and both of ours certainly are. Good thing is because of their lighter weight they do little damage to a large fowl hen.
 
Thanks Chris - so does vocal crowing go with fertility? Unfortunately he crows long before dawn and I guess this habit won't change with age? But he is crowing much less than he was.
 
I don't know if the two are related Chickenfan. All of ours crow a lot, even the old boys. The three noisiest, but not by that much, are the youngsters. The only time any of them significantly quieten down is when they are ill.
 
There is no link between cockeral noise and fertility, although there may be a link between the amount of noise they make and the degree of interest they take in their hens :D Cockerals will crow at any time they feel like it, and that won't change, which is a problem if you have neighbours who don't like it. 4 months is still quite young for a cock bird, so it could be that the hens know he is not quite 'ready' and so aren't crouching willingly for him and depending on the breeds you keep, also they may not be in lay - a more experienced cockeral doesn't usually mate with non-layers, they seem to know. I suspect it will be very different in the Spring :D

Many cockerals are 'gallant' with their hens to the extent that they will find food for the hens and generally protect them, but very few are 'gentlemen' in that it is natural for a cockeral to just jump on a hen, pin her down and mate. The larger the breed, the more damage they tend to do, its the sheer physical weight of them. With a bantam you should be OK.
 
Thank you Mrs Biscuit! Very interesting! I'm sorry to hear his body clock is set so early and that this is unlikely to change. I'm really sad as I've taken two cockerels away today to a Breeder. I thought I was lucky finding them a home, but now I am worried how they are getting on and missing the lovely creatures. In some ways I think it may be better to cull than to put them through the stress of moving to a completely strange environment. Marigold seems sensible about facing death.
 
Its something we all have to ask ourselves if we breed - what are we going to do with the excess boys? Personally I try to rehome them and have had some success as I used to breed a rare colour, however, generally its tough and I am firmly of the mind that it is better to cull at home than to let the boys meet uncertain fates in auction or similar. If you breed autosexing birds you can tell the males from females at birth, and as I find it easier to cull chicks than older birds, that is a route I am thinking of following in the future. I also know reptile keepers and they welcome chicks.
 
That's interesting Mrs Biscuit. Someone in my road has a snake. I agree it is much easier to kill them as chicks, but I usually have to wait 5-6 weeks to be able to tell if they are male. I presume by then they would be too big, but it would be lovely not to 'waste' their lives. My other cockerels I am taking to a small processing place to be made into meat birds.
 
chickenfan said:
That's interesting Mrs Biscuit. Someone in my road has a snake. I agree it is much easier to kill them as chicks, but I usually have to wait 5-6 weeks to be able to tell if they are male. I presume by then they would be too big, but it would be lovely not to 'waste' their lives. My other cockerels I am taking to a small processing place to be made into meat birds.
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How much will it cost you? We just killed two of our cockerels for meat: it's not a difficult job but it was rather time consuming. I suspect that's mostly because aren't used to plucking and dressing as the second bird was much quicker on both counts.
 
I think £2.10-2.50 a bird. But it means two trips to the place - one to deliver, one to collect as they have to be chilled. So only worth doing if you want to fill your freezer. I'm sure its better to do it at home. How long did it take you to do the second bird?
 
I think the second one took about an hour or so, but I was very slow with plucking compared to someone who knows what they are doing. I found that it was easier for me to pluck the bird flat rather than hanging. We starved them for 24 hours beforehand, so the gutting was easy and very clean compared to what I imagine an unstarved bird is like!
 
Thanks Kittykat. I'm doing a course on Saturday. Not looking forward to it, but I think its the best I can do by my cockerels.
 
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