Rooster 5 months old - no sign of being a rooster??

[Steinagarden]

I have a Schijndelaar rooster that are past 5 months old now. His comb has been slightly red for about a month. But I have not seen any rooster behavior yet... No crowing, no interest in the hens (he has several young hens just started laying eggs)... Like, nothing at all.

I am in no doubt that he is a rooster, being double barred and having rooster feathers both on his neck and back. He is also a single rooster in his pen, so there are no older roosters keeping him from developing.

As this is a smaller breed I would expect him to have been pretty mature by now... Does anyone have experience with Schijndelaar roosters being so late?

 

[nuthatched]

Late bloomer.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yes, late bloomer. Some start a lot earlier or later than others. Sometimes it is not just other more mature males that slow them down, a strong female might do that also.

Are you north of the equator? If so, you can expect him to become more active when the weather starts warming up. With some males it doesn't matter but some become more active when Spring arrives. That sometimes really stirs up hormones.

That's one of the problems dealing with living animals. Different ones deal with different circumstances differently. They are not programmable robots but each is an individual.

 

[Steinagarden]

Yes, late bloomer. Some start a lot earlier or later than others. Sometimes it is not just other more mature males that slow them down, a strong female might do that also.

Are you north of the equator? If so, you can expect him to become more active when the weather starts warming up. With some males it doesn't matter but some become more active when Spring arrives. That sometimes really stirs up hormones.

That's one of the problems dealing with living animals. Different ones deal with different circumstances differently. They are not programmable robots but each is an individual.

Thank you

Yes I live north of the equator! I guess I am just really spoiled with my other breeds being mature already at 4 months old and have never experienced such a late bloomer before. I have several other rooster at the same age as this one of different other breeds (larger breeds also), already mating adult hens and being successfull

He only has young hens in his pen, so I don't think he feels dominanted by anyone in his pack.


My heart will skip a beat when I hear this rooster crow for the first time I recon

 

[SkyAJK]

Your rooster is very lucky that his human mother's heart will skip with his first crow. there is a match made in heaven.

Like other say, your rooster is a late boomer, enjoy the quiet time now, don't hurry it, he will crow and once it started it will not stop.

He will crow when you are late to feed his flock, he will crow if any of his hens is not happy, he will crow because there is a wild bird parking on the tree near him, and he will crow not because it is 3am, but because he is a rooster. Unless you enjoy the crowing, enjoy your quiet time now.

From my personal experience with my 2 roosters - roosters are beautiful, lot of personality, talkative, good communicator, and a good communicator they are.....crow and crow.

 

[Steinagarden]

Your rooster is very lucky that his human mother's heart will skip with his first crow. there is a match made in heaven.

Like other say, your rooster is a late boomer, enjoy the quiet time now, don't hurry it, he will crow and once it started it will not stop.

He will crow when you are late to feed his flock, he will crow if any of his hens is not happy, he will crow because there is a wild bird parking on the tree near him, and he will crow not because it is 3am, but because he is a rooster. Unless you enjoy the crowing, enjoy your quiet time now.

From my personal experience with my 2 roosters - roosters are beautiful, lot of personality, talkative, good communicator, and a good communicator they are.....crow and crow.

Well... I have about 20 roosters but thank you for the warning... And I am a breeder, very excited to use him in my program. Crowing for me means it's not far away from being able to use them in my breeding. So I dont know if Im the right person to enjoy the quiet time, because it's very noicy here already

 

[SkyAJK]

Well... I have about 20 roosters but thank you for the warning... And I am a breeder, very excited to use him in my program. Crowing for me means it's not far away from being able to use them in my breeding. So I dont know if Im the right person to enjoy the quiet time, because it's very noicy here already

Your roosters are very lucky and I mean it whole heartedly as you know majority of roosters are not get to live out their life ..the suffering..etc.

It certainly is a match made in heaven with your feather flock and you.

I live in a suburban area so rooster is not allowed. But my roosters crowed on top of their lungs and my heart skip out of fear.

 

[Mrs. K]

Seriously I have had chickens for years and while it is easy to make a mistake when this bird was past 3 months old I was still thinking a pullet. I wish I had a picture of him at that age. One day he “turned into a rooster.

He seldom crowed and flock ignored him and hung away from him. Hope you have better luck.