# Old Roo



## brandon_thomas247 (Feb 25, 2016)

I have a 2 1/2-3 year old Rhode Island Red rooster, I have had him since November. I want to hatch eggs but I can not get him to breed my hens. I thought he was shy and breeding in secret but I cracked the eggs open and they are not fertile. He's healthy and wormed, I don't know what's wrong with him.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Since we don't know your experience with chickens I'll ask whether you tried to incubate eggs from him since spotting the bullseye can be a tricky deal.

If he is not breeding the hens then he's either infertile or being intimidated by the hens. What is the interaction in the flock like?

And I'm editing to add, he's not old. My ten year old was still breeding his hens.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

Maybe he doesn't like girls...


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I have one that I doubt is breeding anyone or ever did. He's a fraidy cat.
Are you looking for the bullseye?

If you get on You tube, you can see how to do artificial insemination. It's not hard to get the male contribution.


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## WeeLittleChicken (Aug 31, 2012)

That's not terribly old but we had a rooster we were told was two when we got him. He was in with ONE hen and out of probably 100 eggs I got two chicks from him. Gave him different hens and got 0. He always acted as if giving in to the hen was such a bother. Never saw him mount one ever... Sometimes you just get one with no umph. I also know someone who spent 2 grand on a champion stud cat only to have him insist on only mounting other toms.... that can happen too!


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## MikeA_15 (Feb 21, 2016)

Breeding pens are often used to pair desirable hens with a rooster. Feathers are lightly trimmed around the vent on heavily feathered breeds so they don't obstruct the process. It may be early and you may want to wait until Sping when they are more sexually active. The other option is artificial insemination. Here are some details of the process:
http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Arti...fPoultry/ArtificialInseminationOfPoultry.html


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## brandon_thomas247 (Feb 25, 2016)

I have 7 hens which include 2 Hampshire hens, 1BO hen,1 white leghorn, 1 Australorp, 1 black sex link, and one silver Wyandotte. All the hens are a 11 months old. I'm finding feathers from hens, that appear to be "plucked/pulled" out. But I crack the fresh eggs of each hen and that of a few days later and a few days earlier and they all appear infertile.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Yep, it does. You can try penning him with one or two of the least aggressive females to see if that triggers anything. And he might be waiting for warmer temps. As birds mature they get a little more selective when it's time to breed.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Sometimes the fertile marker shows up moreso in an egg a few days old, not fresh.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

brandon_thomas247 said:


> I'm finding feathers from hens, that appear to be "plucked/pulled" out.
> I recommend that you inspect your birds for external parasites, check the vent area particularly. If there arnt any lice or mites, it's possible there could be overcrowding or perhaps it's due to boredom. Finally, it's possible that there's a feather picker, usually caused by a protein deficiency. Increasing protein in their diet should help deter picking/pecking. If this fails over time, you'll have to observe your birds to find the feather picker(s) and separate them or cull them. Once feather picking gets started in a flock, others learn quickly and it spreads.


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## brandon_thomas247 (Feb 25, 2016)

The birds are all wormed and have normal feces there are no mites because I check for them every month. They also get wormed every spring the feathers that are plucked look healthy, like the were not ready to fall out just yet.. And I have a lot of dominant hens, but they all mind the Roo.. And my hens don't pluck each other, just the occasional ,clean quarrel


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## brandon_thomas247 (Feb 25, 2016)

They get 3 boiled eggs every morning so I don't think they have a protein deficiency... I also give them ground up egg shell so they can retain some extra protein.


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